Philly-Style Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Subs with Portobello
By Joe GitterPublished on February 14, 2025
Time
45 minutes
Yield
Serves 4
Ingredients
Before You Begin
These subs should be fully stuffed, so we removed much of the rolls’ interior crumb to ensure that the fillings wouldn’t spill out. To crack fennel, use a mortar and pestle or place the seeds on a cutting board and rock the bottom edge of a skillet over them until they crack. You will need a 12-inch nonstick skillet with a tight-fitting lid for this recipe. This recipe is featured in our cookbook Mostly Meatless.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. If needed, slice rolls to make them easier to open (without slicing all the way through). Use spoon to scrape inside of roll and remove all but 1⁄4 inch of interior crumb; discard removed crumb. Set rolls aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil and sliced garlic in 12-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat until garlic is light golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Add broccoli rabe and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to bowl and cover to keep warm.
- Heat 1 teaspoon oil in now-empty skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add sausage and cook, breaking up meat into small pieces with wooden spoon, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to clean bowl.
- Add 1 tablespoon oil to fat left in skillet and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add mushrooms and remaining ⅛ teaspoon salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms have released their liquid, 3 to 5 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Clear center of skillet and add remaining 2 teaspoons oil, fennel seeds, and rosemary. Stir in soy sauce and cooked sausage, then stir in cheese until melted. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.
- Arrange reserved rolls on rimmed baking sheet and bake until lightly toasted, about 3 minutes. Divide mushroom mixture and broccoli rabe evenly among rolls. Top with cherry peppers, if using, and serve.
Time
45 minutesYield
Serves 4Ingredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
A sub roll stuffed with juicy roasted pork, garlicky greens, melty provolone, and vinegary hot peppers is a superbly satisfying Philadelphia icon. To reimagine the sandwich with less meat, we first swapped in Italian sausage, which has more intense flavor packed into a smaller amount of meat—just 8 ounces for 4 substantial sandwiches. Using sausage also made the recipe simpler and quicker. We browned the sausage to render its fat and then cooked portobellos in the meat’s flavorful juices. Mushrooms are excellent sponges, so we amped up the fat’s flavor with fennel seeds and rosemary, plus soy sauce for extra umami. Instead of melting cheese on top, we stirred it into our mushroom-meat mixture as both a binder and seasoning. As it melted, the cheese oozed delightfully throughout our filling.
Before You Begin
These subs should be fully stuffed, so we removed much of the rolls’ interior crumb to ensure that the fillings wouldn’t spill out. To crack fennel, use a mortar and pestle or place the seeds on a cutting board and rock the bottom edge of a skillet over them until they crack. You will need a 12-inch nonstick skillet with a tight-fitting lid for this recipe. This recipe is featured in our cookbook Mostly Meatless.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. If needed, slice rolls to make them easier to open (without slicing all the way through). Use spoon to scrape inside of roll and remove all but 1⁄4 inch of interior crumb; discard removed crumb. Set rolls aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil and sliced garlic in 12-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat until garlic is light golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Add broccoli rabe and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to bowl and cover to keep warm.
- Heat 1 teaspoon oil in now-empty skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add sausage and cook, breaking up meat into small pieces with wooden spoon, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to clean bowl.
- Add 1 tablespoon oil to fat left in skillet and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add mushrooms and remaining ⅛ teaspoon salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms have released their liquid, 3 to 5 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Clear center of skillet and add remaining 2 teaspoons oil, fennel seeds, and rosemary. Stir in soy sauce and cooked sausage, then stir in cheese until melted. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.
- Arrange reserved rolls on rimmed baking sheet and bake until lightly toasted, about 3 minutes. Divide mushroom mixture and broccoli rabe evenly among rolls. Top with cherry peppers, if using, and serve.
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