Description
This easy pressed Cuban sandwich is a pork lover's dream. Sliced ham and roasted pork with cheese, mustard and pickles. So damn good!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 2 17-ounce loaves of French bread, cut into 8” sandwich portions
- 16 slices of Finlandia Swiss Cheese, folded in half
- 16 Slices plain deli ham
- 16 slices of roasted pork (see pork instructions below)
- 2-3 tablespoons of yellow or dijon mustard
- 40 dill pickle rounds per sandwich (8-10 per sandwich)
- 3/4 to 1 full stick of softened salted butter, for cooking
For the Roast Pork:
- 2.5 lb center cut pork roast
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
NOTE: Make sure you are using pans large enough to hold two 8” sandwiches in it.
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Instructions
- Cook the pork roast the night before. Season the outside of a small center cut pork roast with salt and pepper and let it sit for 10 minutes. Cook in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for 55 minutes. This should be cooked with the fat cap side up though my roast didn’t have a lot of fat. Once cooled after cooking, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- The next day, start by slicing the pork thin – about ¼” in thickness works well. Put sliced pork on a plate.
- Make sure you leave the butter out on the counter for a while before making the sandwiches. It needs to be soft to spread onto the bread for cooking.
- Get your sliced ham and Finlandia Swiss cheese ready to go. You want to have everything in your sandwich-making station organized and ready for the sandwich assembly.
- Cut the French bread loaves into four 8” pieces. We are making four Cuban sandwiches and this will take two French loaves. You’ll have a little extra. This is a great sandwich length and allows you to cut it in half like a sub.
- Slice the 8” sandwich pieces in half lengthwise.
- I made two sandwiches at a time, because I have limited counter space. You can certainly line up all four sandwiches and make them all at the same time.
- I found the best order of assembly is this (watch my video – it shows the whole assembly): butter the TOPS of the bread only (we’ll butter other side later when they’re in the pan). I found 1 tablespoon was needed for the top and slightly less for the bottoms. Then lay out all the bread so the sliced side is facing up. Spread mustard on tops and bottoms of the bread. Fold the Finlandia cheese in half and put two slices on the tops AND bottoms of the bread. Fold ham slices in half and add four slices to the BOTTOMS only. Then add four slices of the roasted pork on top of the ham. Place dill pickle rounds on top of the pork – should fit about 8-10 pickle rounds. Put the tops on the sandwiches.
- Heat your pans on medium heat and place sandwiches buttered-side down. Make sure the sandwiches are stable and intact. Place a heavy cast iron skillet on top of the sandwiches.
- For the other pan, place two sandwiches, buttered-side-down making sure they are stable and intact. Place a regular kitchen pan on top of that (NOT TEFLON) then put either a tea kettle with water or a pot with water on top of the pan to act as your panini press. I don't recommend a Foreman Grill for this or any panini press that closes like a clam shell. It will push all the ingredients out and make a mess. We need to press evenly from above for this to come out right.
- Cook sandwiches for about 4 minutes until they are golden brown and crunchy. You know your stovetop - be careful not to burn them.
- At the four-minute mark, remove the skillet and tea kettle panini presses and butter the bread. Then, very carefully turn the sandwiches with a spatula and place the panini presses back on top. Cook about another four minutes until golden brown and crunchy.
- Remove from pan, cut in half and serve.
