Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Copycat Ham and Cheese Subs from Pizza Pit

Back in the day, at Iowa State University, life was so easy. No, I didn't realize it back then...I don't think you ever realize how easy you have it until it changes and you add more responsibility. I mean, seriously, I barely remember having any responsibilities in college besides paying rent, getting that paper written, trying to make it to class and where is the next party going to be?
I think I slept till noon every chance I could.
I have so many memories from my college days. The best, of course, is that I met my husband at Iowa State. Short version of the long story...he chased me for 2 years or so until I finally decided I couldn't live without him and I asked him out! As any young couple in love, we have our 'special' places in Ames, IA.
Our bench at the Reiman Gardens where he proposed!
{You can't really see our bench in this picture, but it is just to the right and that is the view - perfect!}
Side note ~ I see on the Reiman Gardens website that you can now buy time at the Gardens to propose. You can purchase champagne and a rose if you want to add to the experience. They will even hide the ring for you! That would have come in handy, cause I'm pretty sure the box with my ring in it was sliding down my hubby's pants where he was hiding it!
One of our other BIG places in Ames is the Pizza Pit.
 We would frequent the Pizza Pit more often than I would like to admit. I would always get the Hot Ham and Cheese Sub and my hubby would get the Hot Ham and Swiss. They served it with plain ol' potato chips and a pickle wedge. I would also get an order of their garlic cheese bread! MMMMMMMM! My tummy's just growling thinking about it.
Since we live almost 3 hours from Ames, I've tried to bring that taste to our home. The hot subs are now one of our staples!
Here's what you need {again, I'm not big on measuring but I'm trying to get it somewhat written down}:
 6 Hoagie Buns from the bakery at your local grocer
1 large package sliced ham {I like thinly sliced honey baked}
1/4 cup softened butter
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Garlic Salt
1 tsp Dried Basil
Sliced Mozzarella Cheese {or shredded if you don't have slices}
Sliced Swiss Cheese
Grated Parmesan Cheese
6 large pieces of tin foil.
Here's what you do:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
In a small bowl, mix the softened butter with the garlic powder, garlic salt and dried basil. You can always add more or less depending on your families tastes.

Slice each hoagie bun in half and lay them all out so you can do an assembly line.

On the top half of the bun, spread a portion of the butter. I try to put a good heaping half tablespoon on each one. I like to divide it out before spreading so I make sure to use the same amount on each and not run out. On the bottom side of the bun, lay about 6 slices of ham.

Top the ham with either the Swiss or mozzarella cheese. My hubby likes Swiss, the kids and I like the mozzarella. Also, the hubby doesn't like as much cheese so his only get a single layer. I really pile it on for the kids and I. Again, this is where you do what ever your family prefers. Then on the side with the butter sprinkle a generous amount of the Parmesan.

Put the top on the sandwich and wrap the tin foil around it. Do this for each sub. I use a marker to make either an S {Swiss} or M {mozzarella} on the foil so we know which is which.
Bake in the oven for about 15 - 20 minutes.
Serve! The kids love to take the tin foil off, this is a very exciting step at our house!
I usually serve our subs with chips and corn {sauteed with a similar butter mixture as above}.
Ahhhh, the taste brings back the memories! How about you? Do you have any copycat recipes that you've tried? 

~Amy

1 comment:

Midnight said...

Hi Amy, I love your blog. My second daughters name is Amy. Your flowers etc and beautiful and colorful.

I am happy to see that you too love Pizza Pit ;-) I am originally from Madison, WI and I had gone to Pizza Pit for many years. I moved to Arkansas going on 5 years ago and so I don't get the chance to run to Pizza Pit. I never thought I would be moving out of state or I would have tried to at least get the names of the spices used. I crave the pizza and the Italian meatball sandwiches with a passion. I have been looking high and dry looking for either the original or copycat Pizza Pit sauce. Would you or anyone you know would be willing to share the recipe? I have the original copy of the Pizza Hut Pizza sauce and crust if you would like it?

Thank you,
Sue J