Today's Case:
Primanti's Sandwich
Re: Recipe Request
From: Al
To: Phaedrus
Date:9/10/2024, 1:09 PM
Uncle Phaedrus,
I hope you are successful in my meatball recipe request. As a thanks,
I thought that I would share my recipe for Primanti sandwiches with you.
You have two recipes on the website but one seems to be a dead link. (removed)
See: Restaurant Tastes-Like Recipes
Primanti’s Sandwiches
I’ve lived around Pittsburgh most of my life and I have had many Primanti’s
sandwiches. A good many of those were at the original Primanti’s in
Pittsburgh’s Strip District. It took a good bit of research and trying but I
have what my family and I agree are a spot-on clone of a Primanti sandwich.
It seems to me that every distinctive sandwich or dish has one or two ingredients
that really define how it tastes. In the case of a Primanti sandwich, it’s the
Primanti coleslaw. This is not your standard Deli or fast-food coleslaw nor is it
your make-at-home dairy based coleslaw. This is German style coleslaw and
there’s no dairy products in it. Also, some of the clone recipes include onion.
There is no onion in Primanti coleslaw.
The coleslaw is one of those recipes that gets better after it sits in the fridge
overnight or even a couple days later. So, let’s start with the coleslaw and
then we’ll get to the rest of the sandwich.
Primanti’s Coleslaw
Cabbage (shredded) 1 lb. (6 cups)
Sugar 4 tbsps
Apple cider vinegar 1/3 cup
Vegetable oil 1/4 cup
Celery seed 1/4 tsp (NOT celery salt!)
Salt (kosher) 2 tsp (or 1 ½ tsp regular salt)
Pepper 1 tsp
Mix the above ingredients in a large bowl. Preferably let sit in the refrigerator
overnight. Store up to about five days.
Primanti’s coleslaw is the critical ingredient. DO NOT SUBSTITUTE or it won’t
taste like a Primanti’s sandwich.
The Rest of the Story
Primanti’s sandwiches are assembled from the following ingredients;
· soft Italian style bread (not crusty – cut into slices about 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick
· Two slices of tomato (cut about ¼ inch thick)
· Some type of protein – see below
· One slice of provolone cheese
· French fries
· Primanti’s coleslaw
Primanti’s French fries are delicious. They are not skinny and, yes, they are
greasy. They are just a very well made standard French fry. These type of
French fries are not easy to make so I won’t try to duplicate those. They’re more
work than the rest of the sandwich all together. But guess what, they don’t really
define the taste of the sandwich. Here’s where you can substitute good standard
French fries from a restaurant. You want a reasonably thick French fry like
Wendy’s or 5 Guys (the closest match). No Macdonald’s or Steak n’ Shake straw
type fries.
My son makes this with air fryer French fries. They aren’t as greasy but, I hate to
say, you need a greasy fry to fully duplicate a Primanti sandwich.
For the protein, in Primanti’s restaurant you have your choice of the following;
· Pitts-burger® & cheese (#2 best seller) [everybody asks what #1 is... It’s beer]
· Capicola & cheese (spicy Italian ham)
· Pastrami & cheese
· Corned beef & cheese
· Roast beef & cheese
· Oven-roasted turkey & cheese
· Deluxe double egg & cheese
· Cheese combo (Swiss, American & provolone)
· Fried jumbo bologna & cheese
· Kielbasa & cheese
· Knockwurst & cheese (no longer on the official menu)
· Sweet or hot sausage & cheese
· Bacon & cheese
· Ham & cheese
· Imported sardine & cheese
· Tuna fish & cheese
· Genoa salami & cheese
· Ragin' Cajun® chicken breast [no cheese on this one…]
· Angus sirloin steak & cheese
· Colossal fish & cheese
· Southwest black bean burger
The protein options keep changing over the years. They may have added
a few and taken away a few since I put this recipe together.
At Primanti’s, you can also add onions, a fried egg, bacon, extra cheese
or “double meat” to any of the above (but I don’t). When Primanti’s says
“& cheese” they mean provolone – one slice is the standard.
Preparing the Primanti sandwich
For each sandwich, start by grilling (in a skillet) the protein of your choice,
topped with a slice of provolone. Grill one side of the protein, flip it and
grill the other side. When you flip it, add the provolone and cover it with
a lid to melt the cheese.
Assemble the sandwich, from bottom to top, in this order;
· Bottom slice of bread
· Grilled protein topped with melted provolone cheese
· French fries
· Primanti’s coleslaw
· Tomatoes (two slices)
· Top slice of bread
For authenticity, squash it down with your hand, wrap in white butcher’s
paper, and cut in half (through the paper).
From, Al.
