A nice, spicy beef made in the crockpot with giardiniera and golden peperoncini, finished with sauteed sweet peppers, onions and provolone cheese & passed under the broiler to melt.
Spicy Crockpot Italian Beef
An Italian beef is a sandwich believed to have originated in Chicago, made of thin slices of highly seasoned beef, dripping with meat juices, and served on an Italian roll.
First, let's get this out of the way. Like all regional foods that I prepare and share here on Deep South Dish that originate from other parts of the country, this recipe is not meant to be representative of an authentic or even traditional Chicago style Italian beef in any way, shape or form. It's just a beef roast braised in broth, peppers, onions, and Italian seasonings, that makes a pretty darned good Italian Beef drip sandwich. Let's just agree to settle on calling my sandwich "inspired."
Ordered sweet or hot - sweet by topping the beef with sauteed Italian peppers or hot, using a Chicago style giardiniera - and either dry with very little juice, wet with a little juice spooned over, or dragged through the river - meaning that the entire sandwich has been dipped in the meat juices. Cheese is often included - a cheef, served with either mozzarella or provolone, or on garlic, meaning a sandwich with cheese served on bread that has been seasoned like garlic bread. Just the thought of it all makes my mouth water - maybe someday I'll make it up to Chicago for a real authentic Italian Beef.
Here I decided to include the spicy in the braise by including the giardiniera in the cooking process, with just a spoon of the juices. Reserve a little to slice up for garnish too. While the golden peperoncini are a mild, sweet pepper, the giardiniera - often called hot mix - is usually served as a garnish. It contains hot peppers such as serrano, an extremely hot chile that provides the spicy kick to this sandwich. If you don't want the heat level, just use the peperoncini or sweet bell peppers instead, or omit the peppers all together. I like to saute a little bell pepper and onion to put on the sandwiches too.
To build my sandwich, I first toasted the bread with a spread of butter and garlic, then spooned some of the juicy seasoned beef on top. If you prefer to drag your's through the river, make sure you use a good hard Italian roll that will hold up to the juices.
Add sauteed sweet peppers and onions, top with provolone cheese, and pass sandwich under the broiler just until cheese melts. Top with some additional rough chopped giardiniera if you like.
So good. These sandwiches would make a welcome addition to any party menu - just use a larger roast.
Check out more of my roast recipes on Pinterest!
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