This dish is said to have originated in bodegas all over Manhattan and its neighboring boroughs. Story has it that a worker at Blue Sky Deli in New York’s Spanish Harlem created the chopped cheese sandwich in the ’90s as a spinoff of an Arab dish where chopped meat is cooked together with onions and spices and then served in flat bread. From there the sandwiches gained popularity and spread to other bodegas and delis throughout the city.
Today, the dish is often made with ground meat, cooked together with onions and a blend of adobo spices that are all chopped together as they cook. American cheese is melted into the meat mixture that’s delivered in a sub-style roll along with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. It is a true blend of flavors, textures and cultures that’s become a delicious addition to American and New York City cuisine.
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Serves 6
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup chopped onion
2 pounds ground meat (ground round)
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon smoky paprika
6 slices American cheese
6 soft sub or French rolls
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2 tablespoons of softened butter
Sliced tomatoes, chopped lettuce and mayonnaise for dressing
- In a heavy skillet or griddle, heat the olive oil and sauté the onions for 3 to 4 minutes or until they become soft.
- Add in the ground meat and brown until it is no longer pink in the middle.
- Drain the meat in a large strainer and then return it back to the skillet or griddle. Add in the seasonings and turn the heat down to low.
- Fold the cheese slices into the meat and keep the mixture warm while you prepare the rolls.
- Preheat the oven’s broiler and halve the rolls. Butter the tops of the rolls and lightly toast them in the oven.
- Spread one side of each roll with mayonnaise and then divide the meat mixture between the rolls.
- Top with chopped lettuce and tomato slices, and serve.
This article was originally published in the July 2023 issue of 225 magazine.