Italian Hoagie-Style Pickle Sandwich Recipe

Move over, lettuce wraps! There's a new low-carb sandwich wrap in town, and it's utterly "dill-icious." As developer Patterson Watkins says of her pickle sandwich, "I found it fun! It is a surprisingly sturdy sandwich, with a playful texture and crunch. It pairs well with the Italian hoagie 'filler' ingredients — balancing the rich, unctuous meaty and cheesy goods with a bright liveliness." The pickle is slightly hollowed out to contain all the flavorful layers and wrapped in paper for ease (and cleanliness) of eating. This versatile and easily adaptable recipe is also quick to make and fun to put together.

While many Italian subs are served with a simple oil and vinegar drizzle, Watkins tells us, "I went a little outside the box here with a dipping sauce. I like a well-dressed hoagie (when it is served, you know, with bread), either with a classic oil and vinegar pairing or a creamier mayo. I thought it would be tasty to include that in this version too." She also chose to incorporate some less familiar flavors, including mustard and honey. While the sweet and tangy sauce plays nicely with the tart pickle, it would be equally at home on a different type of sandwich or burger. It also works as a dip for chips or crudites, and it could even be turned into a tasty salad dressing if thinned out with another spoonful or two of vinegar (or perhaps pickle juice).

The main ingredients required for the sandwiches include extra-large pickles, mortadella, Genoa salami, prosciutto, and provolone. You'll also need lettuce, red onion, and Roma tomatoes to finish off the sandwich. To make the dipping sauce, you'll need mayonnaise, yellow mustard, red wine vinegar, honey, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper.

To make the dipping sauce, place the mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, honey, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes in a medium bowl.

Whisk to combine the dipping sauce and set aside (refrigerate if not using immediately).

Split the pickles lengthwise and, using a spoon, scoop out the centers (removing the soft seedy parts).

Fill four of the halves with mortadella, salami, prosciutto, and provolone.

Fill the remaining halves with lettuce, onion, and tomatoes.

Working with one set of stuffed pickles at a time, place them on a square of parchment or wax paper.

Stack the stuffed pickle halves, like a sandwich, and roll them in the paper to secure them. (Wrapping in paper will help keep you from getting covered in pickle juice while eating).

Serve your pickle sandwiches with sauce on the side for dipping and dunking.

Once you master the art of making pickle hoagies, you might find yourself, like Patterson Watkins did, inspired to try using these unique buns for other types of sandwiches. "I really really want a corned beef special version, super simple with just corned beef and Swiss cheese with a dipping sauce that is more  mustardy than mayo. Keeping that same simple methodology, I think a smoky ham and sharp cheddar would be delicious. Ooooh ... a roast beef stuffed pickle sandwich with a creamy horseradish dip would be superb."

If you want to stick with something fairly simple, you could fill your pickles with tuna salad, chicken salad, or egg salad, and you wouldn't even need to add pickle relish to the mix since the sandwiches will have all the crunch you could possibly desire. Should you want a more ambitious picklewich, you could use this type of bun to build a healthy turkey Reuben or make a coleslaw-topped hot pastrami sandwich.

For this recipe, look for pickles that measure six inches long or longer. Smaller pickles, while they might make cute mini sandwiches, won't be able to contain all the necessary goodies for these Italian-style hoagies. If you live near an old-fashioned deli that sells single-serve pickles out of a barrel, these should be of sufficient size for sandwich-making. If not, you should be able to buy single pickles in pouches at the supermarket. Watkins said she also found a "comically large" jar of large pickles, in case you want to serve these to a crowd.

Once you've procured your pickles, you'll need to prep them. Patterson advises, "Being that these are relatively roly-poly ingredients, if you can't find a flat section of the pickle to serve as your base, shave a small area (or two) on the side to keep your pickle stable. Just make sure not to shave too much off, you don't want to poke a hole in the pickle when you're scooping out the centers." The pickles will also need to be sliced down the center as evenly as possible, then scooped out to remove the seeds and create a hollow for the sandwich fillings. Don't scoop too vigorously, though, as you still want nice thick walls to hold everything inside.