Roasted Pork and Coppa with Pickled Pepper Relish and Fontina

Name: Roasted Pork and Coppa with Pickled Pepper Relish and Fontina
Yield: makes 4 sandwiches
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon caraway seeds; 3 whole cloves; 1 star anise; 1/2 tablespoon black peppercorns; 1/2 cup kosher salt; 1 (1 1/4- to 1 1/2-pound) boneless pork shoulder; 8 slices fontina cheese; 8 slices country bread; 4 tablespoons Pickled Pepper Relish (page 187) or jarred Italian cherry peppers, drained; 8 slices coppa or prosciutto

December 9, 2011

This recipe is based on a Cuban sandwich traditionally made with roast pork, ham, pickles, Swiss cheese, and mustard. We start with the same main ingredient—the pork. It can be a loin, a ham, even a shoulder, but it should be roasted so that it retains some texture. Then we ratchet things up. In place of the ham, we have coppa, which comes from the neck of the pig and is cured and dried like prosciutto. Standing in for the pickle, we have a pickled pepper relish. The sugar in the recipe cuts through the spiciness and acidity, rounding out the flavors in the relish. Instead of the Swiss cheese in a Cuban, we use fontina. We press the sandwich just as you would a Cuban, and presto! We have what we have nicknamed the Cubano-Italiano.

Recipe notes

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