Chef Gord's Brute

When I grew up in Western Canada my tastes changed dramatically after sixteen. Before that my virgin taste buds had been deprived many ethnic foods, one which was pizza. Budgets were tight and we didn’t eat out a lot. I made up for a lot of lost time after I had my first taste of pizza on a trip to Calgary in the early seventies. My last year of high school and my first years of college were spent frequenting our local hang out, Boston Pizza. Next to my favorite pizza, I became enamored with a sandwich called the Boston Brute. Though it has changed over the last forty years, I still make an effort to sample the new version of my old favorite when I visit my old hometown. The sandwich is deceptively simple, crunchy Italian bread, a slightly spicy pizza sauce, onions, cheese, and a trio of cold cuts; pepperoni, ham and salami. The trick of course is balancing everything to your own taste.

Ingredients:

 Italian bread
 pizza sauce
 sliced onion
 pepperoni
 ham slices
 genoa salami
 mozzerella cheese
 grated parmesan (or mix)

Directions:

 1. Cut the loaf to the required length and slice in half lengthwise.

 2. Add pizza sauce to each side, then cheese on bottom half and thinly sliced onions on the top

 3. Layer slices of each of the meats, then the mozzarella and top with the grated cheese

 4. Bake open faced at 400 until the cheese is bubbly, then broil until nicely browed.  Close sandwich, press down and slice on a bias before serving.

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