Baby Napoli (ish)
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground sirloin
- 1/2 t Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 t baking soda
- 4 slices pepper jack cheese or American, for the real thing
- pickled peppers
(see note below) - 8 slices sourdough bread or Italian bread, for the real thing
- 2 T butter
- 4 cloves garlic minced or grated using a rasp
Instructions
- Create the patties and preheat the oven - Mix 1/4 t baking soda and 1/2 t Worcestershire sauce into the ground sirloin and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes. Then roll the ground sirloin into four balls and gently flatten them into round patties. They should be only about ½ inch thick, or even thinner. They'll plump and shrink as they cook, and you want them to fill up the sandwich. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, convection bake setting.
- Grill the bread - Melt the butter in the microwave, and then stir in the grated garlic and ½ t of salt. Brush one side of each piece of bread with the garlic butter. Grill buttered side down on a griddle or a cast iron pan. Set aside and keep warm.
- Sauté the patties - Sauté the patties until they're brown and caramelized, about 3 minutes each side.
- Assemble the sandwich - Fill two pieces of grilled bread with slice of cheese, a patty, a generous heap of pickled peppers, and another slice of cheese. Wrap in aluminum foil.
- Bake the sandwich - Bake for about 10 minutes - enough time to melt the cheese. Unwrap and serve.
Notes
The Baby Napoli is made with marinated Italian peppers, but I contend that my Pickled Peppers in Oil are actually better. Enjoy!