Cuban Pork Sandwich

Cuban Pork Sandwich. My husband and I first tasted this super yummy sandwich years ago in the Miami area while on vacation. Since then, you see it creeping up on the menus in places like Margaritaville. It is a good solid sandwich and pleasing to the taste buds. Simple. Delicious. Grilled. Can it get much better than that? As with any ethnic dish, there are variations depending on the region. My sandwich is the basic one that we like. You can serve it with mustard or a seasoned mayo on the side but the place we had it in Florida did not have condiments on it except for the optional dill pickles. The juices from the meat on the sandwich and cheese is a perfect blend. Why ruin that?

The traditional sandwich calls for Cuban Bread which is slightly sweet (reminds me of the King's Hawaiian bread) but since I am making mine gluten free today...I substituted Udi's bread which worked just fine. (You can also check out my recipe for homemade bread in January on the blog if you prefer making homemade bread!) I serve my Cuban Pork sandwiches with a side of coconut rice because we like the way the sweet sticky rice melts in your mouth with the pork.

I make our Cuban Pork Sandwiches with left over shredded pork roast and gluten free sliced deli ham, baby Swiss cheese, gluten free bread and dill pickles. I make ours in the George Foreman table top grill because it smashes the bread down while it grills - kind of making it into a panini. You can just grill it in the skillet on medium heat and press it down while it is cooking to flatten it. (The sandwich should flatten considerably).

Cuban Pork Sandwiches: (Makes 2 sandwiches)

• 1/2 pound of shredded cooked pork
• 4 slices of gluten free deli ham
• 4 slices of Cuban Bread or substitute Hawaiian bread (I substituted Udi's gluten free sandwich bread for today)
• 4 slices of Baby Swiss Cheese
• real butter to spread on the bread slices prior to grilling
• dill pickles, optional (my husband doesn't care for the pickles so I usually leave them off his sandwich!)

Shredded pork roast

gluten free ham

Udi's Gluten Free Bread

Butter the bread slices. Put a slice of cheese on one bread slice. Layer with shredded pork roast, 2 ham slices per sandwich and another slice of cheese. Add pickles if desired. Put in hot skillet or George Foreman style table top grill. Cook until bread is golden brown and cheese is melted. I serve our sandwiches with coconut rice. (Just add a handful of shredded coconut when adding your rice to the water to cook. The rice will absorb the coconut flavor and soften the coconut to give it a nice fluffy texture. No need to use expensive coconut waters/milk for this recipe. The shredded coconut will give it plenty of flavor for a fraction of the cost).

Ready for the grill!

Layering the sandwich ingredients

Getting ready to close the lid on the grill/press

Ready to eat! :)

Up close view of the yummy sandwich!

This sandwich makes a great casual dinner for nights when you don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. We like to take ours out to the patio and enjoy the weather. I always save some of our pork roast so that we can enjoy these sandwiches for lunch or dinner the following day.

I hope you enjoy this casual but fun sandwich!

Tanja
Gluten Free Casually