Pastrami Reuben on Whole Grain Rye

Pastrami Reuben on Whole Grain Rye

Our Whole Grain Rye bread complements spicy pastrami, crisp sauerkraut, and a sour pickle mustard sauce in this spin on the classic Reuben sandwich.

Ingredients

Sandwich

  • 3 oz spicy pastrami
  • 1.5 oz swiss cheese
  • 2 tbsp mustard sauce (recipe below)
  • 2 oz sauerkraut
  • 2 ~1/2-inch slices of our Whole Grain Rye bread

Mustard Sauce

  • 3/4 cup whole yellow or brown mustard seeds
  • 1 cup white vinegar
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • Pinch of red pepper flakes or to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup spicy brown mustard
  • 1/4 cup chopped cucumber pickles (we recommend the Philly Dilly Deli pickles from the Fishtown Pickle Project, but any will do)

Directions

First prepare the mustard sauce. This should be done at least 4 hours in advance of when you want to make the sandwiches to give enough time to pickle the mustard seeds.

To pickle the mustard seeds, first combine the vinegar, sugar, pepper flakes, and salt in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat.

Meanwhile, place the mustard seeds in a heatproof bowl. When the pickling liquid comes to a boil, pour it over the mustard seeds and let stand at room temperature for 4 hours.

When the mustard seeds are pickled, set aside 1/4 cup for use in the mustard sauce and refrigerate the rest for use another time.

Then, combine the 1/4 cup pickled mustard seeds with the spicy brown mustard and cucumber pickles. Mix until well blended.

When ready to prepare the sandwich, coat the bottom of a small skillet with olive oil, about 1-2 teaspoons. Heat over medium-low heat until shimmering.

While the oil is heating, slather two slices of our Whole Grain Rye bread on one side each with the mustard sauce:

Whole Grain Rye sandwich slices
Rye slices with mustard sauce

Then, place half of the swiss cheese on each slathered slice:

Rye slices with swiss

When the pan and oil are hot, sautee the pastrami in the pan until heated through, about 2 minutes:

Sauteeing pastrami slices

Then, transfer the pastrami from the pan to the top of one of the cheese-topped slices:

Pastrami on sandwich slice

Place the sauerkraut on top of the pastrami and, if you like, dust with smoked paprika for some extra punch:

Sauerkraut on pastrami
Smoked paprika on pastrami

Next, close the sandwich and gently place into the heated pan, adding a touch more oil to recoat the pan if needed:

Closed pastrami reuben sandwich
Cooking first side of pastrami reuben

Then, cover the skillet with a lid (or another skillet upside down) and allow to steam until cheese begins to melt, about 2 minutes:

Covered reuben

When the cheese begins to melt and the bottom of the sandwich is slightly browned, gently flip it over in the pan. Heat uncovered until the bottom is slightly browned and the cheese melted:

Cooking second side of reuben

When the sandwich is nicely browned and the cheese melty, remove from the pan. Slice in half and serve immediately, with a side of mustard sauce if desired:

Sliced pastrami reuben

Pastrami reuben cross-section

Mustard sauce recipe modified from Pickled Mustard Condiment from New York Times Cooking.

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