The Bee Sting Beach Sub
and the beauty of roasted tomatoes
Since I was born I’ve spent nearly every fourth of July in my uncle’s perfectly tiny house in a perfectly tiny town on the Jersey shore. I don’t know what the fourth of July means to you, but to me it means morning coffees on the front porch and late night ice cream cone strolls. It means perpetually sandy feet and crisp, sunburnt skin, icy swims and playing corn hole in the street at sunset. It means schlepping to the beach with coolers full of foil-wrapped sandwiches, farm stand visits and cool beers by the grill, heaping bowls of spaghetti with clams and plums that send juice running down your chin.
Lunch is an important part of a good beach day. Ideally, you’ve already spent a few hours in the sun, reading and chatting. You’ve taken a swim or two, and your body is coated in a mix of dried salt water residue and shoddily re-applied sunscreen. Hunger awakens, and you remember the sandwich waiting for you in the cooler—great feeling. Maybe you crafted it with care a few hours ago, maybe a loved one made it for you, maybe you grabbed it from the deli, it doesn’t even matter.
Last week, while eating a pretty unsatisfying Italian sub on the beach in Rockaway (one I did not prepare), I dreamed up this beach sandwich, which borrows inspiration from Roberta’s beloved “Bee Sting” pizza. It feels like most specialty pizza shops in New York now have some version of the glorious topping combo of salty, crisped soppressata and sweet and spicy honey, and with good reason.
For a sandwich inspired by pizza, I want sweet, acidic, concentrated tomato flavor, and I want to avoid the risk of a mealy, disappointing tomato watering things down. Unfortunately, I must accept that I might not have a truly excellent tomato until August. (When that time comes, I’ll eat a fat slab of tomato, sprinkled generously with flaky salt, on mayo-slathered, well-toasted sourdough, probably once a day.) In the meantime, I know a way to make even subpar tomatoes taste really damn good: roast them. Once they collapse and their sugars concentrate, any mealiness or wateriness will be long gone and forgotten—they become almost saucy, sweet-tart, and a total value add.
The real beauty of roasting tomatoes is that they’ll keep in the fridge for days, and can be enjoyed in so many ways. Pile them on top of charred bread rubbed with garlic as an appetizer, or chop them up and add them to a grain or bean salad, or toss them with pasta and parm, or eat them straight from the tupperware with your fingers when no one’s looking.
On the Bee Sting Beach Sub, the roasted tomatoes find company in a pile of salty, funky soppressata, a generous drizzle of hot honey, fresh mozzarella, basil, a mountain of vinegary arugula, and a drizzle of olive oil. This sandwich could be made on a ciabatta or baguette, but I like it on a good old fashioned sub roll, preferably with sesame seeds. Do you have to eat this sandwich at the beach? No, but you probably should. Bonus points if a grain of sand somehow finds its way between your teeth while you eat it.
Here’s some inspiration for holiday weekend snacking. Happy fourth, friends!
Roasted Tomatoes
Take 1 pound (or 2, or 3! You’re investing in your future!) tomatoes and halve them through the equator. Campari tomatoes are a great size for this, but so are smaller tomatoes on the vine, cherry tomatoes, and Roma tomatoes. For larger varieties, you may want to remove some of their watery seeds; for smaller ones, don’t worry about it.
Place them cut-side up on a baking sheet. Drizzle them generously with extra-virgin olive oil and season well with salt. Other great things to add here include chile flakes, fennel seeds, fresh oregano leaves, dried oregano, and fresh thyme. (Fennel seeds and chile flakes are my personal favorite combo for the Bee Sting.) Place in a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes or so, until the tomatoes have collapsed and shriveled and begun to caramelize in places (larger tomatoes may need longer). Start snacking, or let them cool completely and store in an airtight container with their juices in the fridge for up to 5 days.
The Bee Sting Beach Sub
For 1 sandwich:
1 large handful arugula
Red wine vinegar
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Italian sub roll*
2 ounces thinly sliced soppressata or salami
Hot honey (use Mike’s or make your own by stirring some honey together with chopped Calabrian chiles or chile flakes)
4 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced
Roasted Tomatoes
Fresh basil leaves
In a small bowl, toss the arugula with a good drizzle of red wine vinegar, a little olive oil, a pinch of salt, and several cracks of black pepper. It should be acidic and well seasoned. Set aside.
Split the roll. Drape the salami slices onto the base of the roll, then drizzle them generously with the hot honey (like, really go for it). Top with the mozzarella slices, as many roasted tomato halves as you like/as will fit, and a handful of fresh basil. Top the basil with the dressed arugula, and drizzle the top interior of the roll with a little more olive oil before closing. Wrap the sub tightly in parchment, halve it with a serrated knife, and wrap the halves in foil if you’re heading to the beach. Otherwise, dig in.
*You can build this sandwich on an individual roll, or build it on a long sub roll/baguette and slice portions to share. If your bread is especially fluffy or dense, you may want to scoop out some of the bread to make room for fillings.