Chicago-style Italian Beef

The Italian Beef sandwich is a Chicago “thing.” There are a few Italian Beef places outside Chicago, mostly owned and operated by expats of the Windy City, but they’re rare.

The sandwich, comprised of thinly sliced or shredded beef, seasoned with herbs and spicy peppers, and dripping in meat juices, dates back as far as the 1930s. Rumor has it that Italian immigrants working in Chicago’s infamous Union Stock Yards started roasting the cheap cuts of beef they brought home from the yards this way, in order to make it tender. The bread, a long, hoagie-style roll, is often dipped into the meat juices before it is loaded up with beef and peppers. My first experience with Melinda’s Italian Beef made me an instant fan.

Never having encountered this particular sandwich outside Chicago, I was surprised when my friend Jen made her own Italian Beef for us one night when we were visiting during Thanksgiving break.

“How do you know about Italian Beef?” I asked her. “You’re not from Chicago, are you?”

“No,” she said, “but my aunt is, and she makes this for my family whenever we visit.”

I took her recipe home with me, tinkered with it, of course, and discovered that the results are just as tasty with venison. It’s easy, too – a perfect crock pot meal. Put it together, turn it on in the morning, and voila! Dinner.

5-pound chuck or venison roast, fat trimmed off

32 ounces beef broth or stock

12 ounces dry red wine (use drinking wine, not cooking wine – a Cabernet or Merlot works well)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon basil

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

12-ounce jar pepperoncini, stemmed, seeded, and sliced into rings (use mild or hot depending on your own taste)

salt to taste

8 soft, hoagie-style rolls

Place all ingredients in crock pot, and add water to cover. Cook on low 8 hours. Remove roast from crock pot, and shred. Return to pot. Serve open-faced on hoagie rolls. If you like, dip the open face of each roll into the juice before topping with the meat and peppers. That’s how they do it in Chi-town.

Serves 8.

Here’s the printable recipe. Enjoy!