If you’ve spent time in Philly, you know that cheesesteaks are great and all, but the real treasure is the beautiful Philadelphia Italian pork sandwich.
What Constitutes a Philly Italian Pork Sandwich?
A Philly-style Italian pork sandwich is a thing of beauty, heaped with pulled pork, smothered in drippy broccoli rabe (or spinach, depending on who you’re talkin’ to), topped with peppers, laden with a base of gooey provolone cheese, and served on a perfectly crisp yet soft Italian roll.
The Philly pork sandwich is multi-dimensional, it’s complex, and it’s layered with flavors that are far more satisfying than your average cheesesteak (in the truest sense of the word “average”). During my college years, I crossed paths with many mediocre cheesesteaks, which created an overall cheesesteak fatigue that set in pretty quickly. Unless you can get to Tony Luke’s OR Pat’s OR Geno’s—hey, I’m not tryna start a fight in the comments section—there’s a lot more that Philly has to offer.
College Memories at DiNic’s
In case you couldn’t already tell, this recipe comes straight out of my own personal memory lane. My peak epicurean pleasure during my college years in Philadelphia was getting on the creaky Septa line out of west Philly and heading to 12th and Arch Street for an afternoon at Reading Terminal Market.
My roommate and I would hit up the veggie market to get our weekly produce (my ancient Spicy Chicken Gumbo with Andouille Sausage Recipe is still a favorite of my roommate’s and was made with andouille sausage and fresh chicken from Reading Terminal Market), and stop at DiNic’s for an Italian pork sandwich.
My DiNic’s order was always the same: pulled pork because it was fattier and tastier than the roast pork IMO, broccoli rabe, provolone, and a *mix* of the sweet bell peppers and spicy long hots. For my college wallet, it was a bit of an indulgence to get the pepper mix, but a key distinction.
At the counter, you’d get a variety of characters: the no-nonsense local guys who would quietly knock back a whole sandwich with a big coke, the tourist couples who would daintily split one (so as to better sample all the market has to offer), the frat bros from far and wide looking to ward off the Sunday scaries, and then me—taking my time at the counter to slowly devour the whole thing, topping it with the vitally important pickled pepperoncinis they had in plastic tubs, and not really caring about my general chipmunk cheeked approach.
While you’re eating, you watch the staff assembling sandwiches, drawing big forkfuls of pork from trays of amazing dark juice and drippings, carving off rough chunks of sharp provolone, and cutting rolls with a quick and expert hand. Then we’d wash the whole thing down with either a fresh fruit smoothie from the juice and baklava guy or an ice cream cone from Bassett’s across the way. Ahhhhh, weekend, complete.
That said, that $12 sandwich was a *bargain* because there is a lot of love that goes into it. And when I say love, I mean EFFORT. In my journey to crack the code on this recipe, I thought about making the pork in an Instant Pot, but I just don’t think it would yield the same depth of flavor, and if you’re gonna go for it, GO FOR IT.
Developing This Recipe
I took some painstaking steps to ensure that this recipe was as accurate as it could be, from watching videos to poring over Google images of DiNic’s sandwiches to identify the right ratio of ingredients. I break down all the timing and steps from the pulled pork and broccoli rabe to preparing the peppers and assembling the perfect sandwich, so that when you decide to grace your palate with this Italian roast pork sandwich, you can stay two steps ahead.
In summary, the roasting process is as follows (you can refer to this later!):
PORK ROASTING PROCEDURE:
- Roast 35 minutes, and then add liquid (stock, wine, tomatoes, bay leaves)
- Roast 2 hours, and then cut pork into chunks and stir into braising liquid.
- Roast 2 to 2 ½ hours until fork tender
Total Roasting Time: ~5 hours
And I think the results are pretty great, because at the end of the day that I blogged this, we each sat down and devoured a whole sandwich, and I felt like I was back at the counter—drive or train ride to Philly not required! I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I love it. It is one of my all-time favorite things to eat on this earth. And you know us, we don’t say that kind of thing lightly.
UPDATE – THE INSTANT POT WORKS!!!
Donna! Oh, Donna. A reader took it upon herself to experiment with the Instant Pot to fantastic results. We had to try her method. It’s delicious and truly a LOT easier.
Feel free to follow these instructions, courtesy of a fellow former Philly college gal who also finds herself far from that most glorious of drippy pork sandwiches these days.
“While I give respect to all who have 5 hours to make this dish, I went the instant pot route and got EXCELLENT results in 2 hours…”
- Cut the pork into large chunks, defatting where needed.
- Mix all of the herbs, garlic, and a palmful (+/- 1 TB) of salt together and rub meat, the. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
- Set the IP to sauté, then caramelize the onions in a little oil. Remove and set aside.
- With the IP still on sauté, sear the pork on all sides in batches, adding additional oil as needed. Deglaze with the red wine. (As Donna says, “maybe a little more than called for, but hey…”)
- Add the pork and onions back to the IP along with the bay leaves, tomato, and only 2 cups of chicken broth. Set the IP to manual for 60 min.
- Let the pressure naturally release for 30 min.
- Once complete, remove the pork from the IP, shred it with two forks, and pour the drippings into a fat separator (or let it cool in the fridge, then scrape off any fat).
- Prepare the peppers and broccoli rabe as directed.
Some last words from Donna:
“I had to sample this before serving tonight for the Super Bowl, so I put a little pork, provolone, broccoli rabe, bell peppers and long hots into a bowl and ate it “as is”. WOW! Nothing is lost in translation with the instant pot and you save hours of time! Highly recommended!“
Thanks, Donna!
If you can’t get all the way to Philly to experience one, you might as well make some Italian pork sandwich magic in your own kitchen.
Philly Italian Pork Sandwich: Recipe Instructions
Marinate the meat the night before. If needed, trim the skin off of the pork shoulder while you’re butterflying it, but don’t trim away the fat cap on top. We used a 4-pound piece off of a larger cut, so we also had a small bone to butterfly around.
Sprinkle evenly all over with salt (to avoid oversalting, sprinkle it from a height above the meat so it spreads evenly without needing to use a ton). Combine 1½ tablespoons ground fennel seeds, 1½ tablespoons dried thyme, 2 tablespoons dried oregano, and 1 tablespoon fresh minced rosemary leaves. Generously rub the meat all over with this seasoning. Next, stir together the 3 tablespoons of minced parsley and the minced garlic. Spread the majority on the inner parts of the butterflied pork shoulder, and distribute the rest on the top.
Rebundle the pork shoulder so it is in a relatively tight roll.
Place in a roasting pan, and surround with the thinly sliced onion. Drizzle a little olive oil over the onions. Refrigerate overnight.
The next day, take your pork out of the refrigerator early (about 2 hours before you’re ready to roast) to come up to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, and position a rack in the lower third of the oven, and one in the upper third.
You’re going to roast the pork and the peppers simultaneously, so wash the peppers, pat them dry, and cut them all lengthwise and deseed them (If you like your long hots really hot, skip that step!) Toss in olive oil, and sprinkle with salt. Lay out evenly on a baking sheet.
Place the roast in the lower third of the oven, and the peppers on the rack in the upper third. Roast at 450 degrees F for 35 minutes. (Depending on how hot your oven runs, you may want to check them at the 20-25 minute mark. They should look like they do in the photo below.)
Remove the peppers from the oven and set them aside. Later, you can reheat the peppers by stirring them into the hot pulled pork to rewarm them, or by putting them back in the oven in the final stretch of cooking.
Also take the pork out of the oven at this step.
Add the stock, wine, tomatoes, and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Cook for another 15 minutes at 450 degrees F, and then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
Continue roasting the pork for 2 hours. Then remove the pork from the oven again.
Carefully remove the foil (you’ll be putting it back on). Using a sharp carving knife, cut the roast into large chunks, laying them flat in the braising liquid. Re-cover with foil and cook for another 2 to 2 ½ hours, until the pork is fork tender.
A little while before you take your pork out of the oven, it’s time to prepare your broccoli rabe. In a skillet over medium-high heat, add ¼ cup of olive oil and 7 cloves chopped garlic. Let the garlic brown lightly, and add the crushed red pepper flakes.
Then add the chopped broccoli rabe.
Cook until wilted, and then lower the heat if needed to cook until tender––you don’t want the stems to be crunchy!
Remove the pork from the oven. Discard the bay leaves. Pull the pork in the pan with two forks, mixing everything in the juices.
Stir in your reserved roasted peppers to rewarm them. Alternatively, you could reheat them in the oven in the last 10-15 minutes of roasting.
To build each sandwich, grab your Italian bread/rolls, and slice them lengthwise.
Lay down a healthy bed of sharp provolone slices (we went with sharp provolone from the deli counter, but if you really want to be authentic to the OG sandwich, get a wedge of super sharp provolone and cut it into rough, thick shavings)…
And toast in the oven to melt the cheese.
Top with a generous, drippy helping of pulled pork.
Spoon over the broccoli rabe…
(Oh, and don’t forget to nestle a few pieces of long green hot pepper and bell pepper inside if you so desire.)
Finally, top off with pepperoncini slices. The tangy sourness of these peppers add great contrast to the sandwich, and they’re mandatory in my opinion!
Once your Italian Pork Sandwich is assembled, eat immediately!
This sandwich is so good, I’ve eaten it fresh and hot, at room temperature, and even a tiny bit soggy and cold out of the refrigerator (sometimes you gotta just live and savor your ugly truths), and it NEVER DISAPPOINTS.
Italian Pork Sandwiches (DiNic’s Copycat Philly Pork Sandwich)
Ingredients
For the pork:
- 4-5 pounds skinless pork shoulder butterflied
- Salt
- 1½ tablespoons ground fennel seeds
- 1½ tablespoons dried thyme
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary (minced)
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley (minced)
- 16 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 yellow onions (thinly sliced)
- Olive oil
- 4 cups pork, chicken or beef stock
- ½ cup red wine
- 15 oz. can crushed tomatoes (425 g)
- 2 bay leaves
For the roasted peppers (optional):
- 2 green bell peppers
- 7 long hot green peppers
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the broccoli rabe:
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 7 cloves garlic (chopped)
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 pounds broccoli rabe (washed thoroughly and chopped into ½ inch pieces)
To assemble the sandwiches:
- 12 crusty Italian rolls
- 3-4 slices sharp provolone per sandwich
- Jarred pepperoncinis
Instructions
- Marinate the meat the night before. If needed, trim the skin off of the pork shoulder while you’re butterflying it, but don’t trim away the fat cap on top. We used a 4-pound piece off of a larger cut, so we also had a small bone to butterfly around.
- Sprinkle evenly all over with salt (to avoid oversalting, sprinkle it from a height above the meat so it spreads evenly without needing to use a ton). Combine 1½ tablespoons ground fennel seeds, 1½ tablespoons dried thyme, 2 tablespoons dried oregano, and 1 tablespoon fresh minced rosemary leaves. Generously rub the meat all over with this seasoning. Next, stir together the 3 tablespoons of minced parsley and the minced garlic. Spread the majority on the inner parts of the butterflied pork shoulder, and distribute the rest on the top.
- Rebundle the pork shoulder so it is in a relatively tight roll. Place in a roasting pan, and surround with the thinly sliced onion. Drizzle a little olive oil over the onions. Refrigerate overnight.
- The next day, take your pork out of the refrigerator early (about 2 hours before you’re ready to roast) to come up to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, and position a rack in the lower third of the oven, and one in the upper third.
- You’re going to roast the pork and the peppers simultaneously, so wash the peppers, pat them dry, and cut them all lengthwise and deseed them (If you like your long hots really hot, skip that step!) Toss in olive oil, and sprinkle with salt. Lay out evenly on a baking sheet.
- Place the roast in the lower third of the oven, and the peppers on the rack in the upper third. Roast at 450 degrees F for 35 minutes. (Depending on how hot your oven runs, you may want to check them at the 20-25 minute mark.) Remove the peppers from the oven and set them aside. Later, you can reheat the peppers by stirring them into the hot pulled pork to rewarm them, or by putting them back in the oven in the final stretch of cooking.
- Also take the pork out of the oven at this step, and add the stock, wine, tomatoes, and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Cook for another 15 minutes at 450 degrees F, and then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Continue roasting the pork for 2 hours.
- Carefully remove the foil (you'll be putting it back on). Using a sharp carving knife, cut the roast into large chunks, laying them flat in the braising liquid. Re-cover with foil and cook for another 2 to 2 ½ hours, until the pork is fork tender.
- A little while before you take your pork out of the oven, it’s time to prepare your broccoli rabe. In a skillet over medium-high heat, add ¼ cup of olive oil and 7 cloves chopped garlic. Let the garlic brown lightly, and add the crushed red pepper flakes, followed by the chopped broccoli rabe. Cook until wilted, and then lower the heat if needed to cook until tender––you don’t want the stems to be crunchy!
- Remove the pork from the oven. Discard the bay leaves. Pull the pork in the pan with two forks, mixing everything in the juices.
- Stir in your reserved roasted peppers to rewarm them. Alternatively, you could reheat them in the oven in the last 10-15 minutes of roasting.
- To build each sandwich, grab your Italian bread/rolls, and slice them lengthwise. Lay down a healthy bed of sharp provolone slices (we went with sharp provolone from the deli counter, but if you really want to be authentic to the OG sandwich, get a wedge of super sharp provolone and cut it into rough, thick shavings), and toast to melt the cheese. Top with a generous, drippy helping of pulled pork. Spoon over the broccoli rabe, and nestle a few pieces of long green hot pepper and bell pepper inside. Top off with pepperoncini slices if desired, and eat immediately!
