Name: Chopped Cheese Sandwiches
Total time: 50 min
Cuisine: Mid-AtlanticAmericanUS & Canada
Ingredients: 1 pound 85 percent lean ground beef; 1 onion , chopped fine; 1 teaspoon Goya Adobo All Purpose Seasoning; 1 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt; 4 (8-inch) sub rolls , split; 1/3 cup mayonnaise; 2 tablespoons ketchup; 8 slices yellow American cheese (8 ounces); 12 thin tomato slices (2 tomatoes); 2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce

Why This Recipe Works

There's nothing like a real bodega chopped cheese sandwich—packed with ground beef and American cheese—straight off a flat-top griddle in East Harlem. But not wanting to travel to New York City every time the craving hit, we developed our own recipe, which was inspired by the version sold at Blue Sky Deli in East Harlem. We started with 1 pound of 85 percent lean ground beef, enough to pack four soft sub rolls. Cooking the meat in a nonstick skillet and breaking it up with a wooden spoon mimicked the texture of the meat we ate in New York. Lawry's Seasoned Salt and Goya Adobo All Purpose Seasoning packed in tons of flavor. Wrapping the warm, assembled sandwiches tightly in parchment paper swaddled the cheese and beef to help the filling meld.

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Before You Begin

The Goya seasoning can be found in the spice or international section of your grocery store; Lawry's Seasoned Salt is usually stocked with other salt blends in the spice section. You can wrap the sandwiches in butcher paper instead of parchment paper, if desired.

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine beef, onion, all-purpose seasoning, and seasoned salt in 12-inch nonstick skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, constantly breaking up meat into small pieces with wooden spoon, until cooked through and excess moisture is driven off, about 8 minutes.

Arrange sub rolls on baking sheet and spread mayonnaise and ketchup evenly on cut sides of rolls. Divide beef mixture evenly among rolls. Layer 2 slices American cheese over beef on each roll. Bake until bread is warmed through and cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.

Layer tomatoes and lettuce over cheese. Close 1 sandwich, using spatula as needed to keep ingredients contained within roll (sandwich will be very full). Starting from corner of 16 by 12-inch sheet of parchment paper, immediately wrap sandwich tightly. Repeat closing and wrapping with remaining 3 sandwiches. To serve, cut sandwiches in half through parchment paper and unwrap as you eat.