Description
It’s Thanksgiving! What are your plans today? Did you decide to keep your dinner party small today? If not, I hope you all stay safe and healthy. If you did, you are like my household, quaran-teaming together. So, even though it’s Thanksgiving, I’m preparing you for the next couple of days by offering you a yummy way to eat up your leftovers!
So, I did my undergrad at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Living in Colorado was a really neat experience and absolutely gorgeous. I ultimately decided to leave because, to be frank, it was too white. My son is half Filipino and I didn’t want him growing up with a classroom of all white kids. New Jersey is great because of the diversity it offers, and my son has been able to grow up with few racist encounters.
But back to Boulder… what I loved about Boulder was their sandwich shops. They had several hot sandwich shops that were delish. One place offered stuffed sandwiches with turkey, stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce, and omg, it was soooo good. I can’t find sandwich shops like that on the east coast. They’re all Italian subs.
I don’t know why I never thought to recreate this sandwich until this year, but it popped into my head when I was thinking about leftover turkey recipes I could post. Now let me warn, this sandwich is messy! I recommend a fork and knife!
I know after cooking for Thanksgiving, the idea of baking may not be at the top of your list, but these hoagie rolls are super easy and don’t require too much hands on time. They come out super soft and light and are perfect for these sandwiches. After baking them, all you have to do is reheat your leftovers and assemble your sandwiches. Easy peasy!
I recommend turkey, stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce as your fixings. But, if you’d rather load up some mashed potatoes or green bean casserole, do your thing! And if you think it’s weird putting cranberry sauce on top, trust me, try it… it makes the sandwich soooo good.
Enjoy and stay safe!
Ingredients
Hoagie Rolls
500 g all-purpose flour
1¼ cup warm water (about 110°)
2 TBs granulated sugar
2¼ tsps active dry yeast
½ TB salt (I use pink Himalayan salt)
4 TB butter, room temperature
1 egg, for an egg wash
Leftovers
Stuffing
Instructions
Make the Hoagie Rolls
In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand 5 minutes, or until there is about an inch of foam. Whisk together.
In the bowl of a standing mixer with the dough hook attached, mix together the flour and salt. With the speed on low, slowly add the yeast water. Raise the speed to medium. Once the flour is fully incorporated and the dough comes cleanly off of the sides of the bowl, add in the butter one tablespoon at a time, waiting until each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Once all the butter has been added, turn the speed to high and let the machine work the dough for 7 minutes.
Remove the dough from the bowl and perform a window pane test by taking a small section of dough and stretching it out. If the dough holds, you’re good to go. If it doesn’t continue to knead the dough by hand for several more minutes. When the window pane test is successful, form the dough into a ball and place back in the bowl. Cover with a towel and place in a warm place (I like to place it in a slightly warmed oven). Let sit for 60 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Roll the dough out on to a bread board or lightly floured surface. Knead the dough, pushing out any air bubbles. Cut the dough into 4 to 6 even sized piece. I weigh mine to ensure each are closely proportional: about 215 grams per piece for 4 rolls or about 140 grams per piece for 6 rolls. Knead each piece into a ball and then gently stretch it out into a long roll ~ about 6” by 3”.
Place a silicone baking sheet or parchment paper on a baking sheet. Arrange the rolls on the sheet, far enough apart to have room to rise again. Place a towel or plastic wrap lightly sprayed with oil on top of the rolls. Let rise until doubled in size ~ it took mine another hour to rise, but keep an eye on them so you don’t over proof them. Once they’re almost doubled in size (about the 50 minute mark), preheat the oven to 375°.
Once the rolls have finished rising, score the tops lengthwise with a sharp knife or bread lame. Place in the oven and with a water spray bottle, squirt ten or so quick bursts of water into the oven to create steam. Close the door and let bake for about 18 minutes, or until golden brown and an internal temperature of 190° to 200°.
Assemble Your Sandwiches
Reheat the leftover turkey, stuffing, and gravy.
Cut the rolls in half. Take the top half and scoop out some of the bread filling, but be careful not to make it too thin. Fill the space with stuffing. On the other half, place the turkey, gravy, and cranberry sauce. Place the top on, grab a ton of napkins, and eat!
Enjoy!
Keywords: Thanksgiving Leftovers, Turkey Sandwiches, Hoagie Rolls, Leftover Turkey Recipes, Leftover Turkey Sandwiches