Scuttlebutt
Updated June 18, 2024
- Total Time
- 2 hours (plus 1 day, if making pickled beets)
- Prep Time
- 30 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1½ hours (plus 1 day, if making pickled beets)
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 sandwiches
- 1bunch beets (about 5 beets), scrubbed and trimmed
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- 1cup red wine vinegar
- ½cup granulated sugar
- ½tablespoon whole black peppercorns
- ½tablespoon coriander seeds
- ½tablespoon mustard seeds
- 1whole star anise, broken up
- 4whole allspice berries
- ½cup julienned carrots
- ¼cup apple cider vinegar
- ½cup mayonnaise (or pimenton aioli; see Tip)
- ½teaspoon pimentón (or smoked or sweet paprika)
- 1garlic clove, grated
- 4(4-by-4-inch) pieces focaccia (store-bought or homemade)
- 4hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
- ¼cup pitted oil-cured olives, chopped
- 2tablespoons capers
- 1cup assorted plucked fresh herb leaves and tender stems (any combination of parsley, mint, dill and cilantro)
- 2medium pickled beets, sliced ¼-inch-thick
- Extra-virgin olive oil, as needed
- 4ounces feta (preferably in block form, for slicing)
For the Pickled Beets (optional)
For the Sandwiches
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
861 calories; 59 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 27 grams monounsaturated fat; 17 grams polyunsaturated fat; 66 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 37 grams sugars; 18 grams protein; 1160 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Prepare the beets, if making your own, a day before you want to make your sandwiches. (If using store-bought pickled beets, skip to Step 5.) Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Step 2
Put the beets in a small roasting pan. Drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt. Add just enough water to the pan to evenly cover the bottom by about 1 inch. Cover with aluminum foil and roast until tender when pierced with a knife, about 1 hour. Let the beets cool until you can handle them, then peel them, slipping the skins off with your fingers or a kitchen towel and using a paring knife where they stick. Cut into ¼-inch slices and place in a large, heatproof bowl.
- Step 3
In a saucepan, combine 1 cup water with the remaining pickled beet ingredients and ½ tablespoon salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt. When the sugar and salt have dissolved, pour the pickle brine over the sliced beets.
- Step 4
Let the beet pickles cool at room temperature and then put the beets and their brine into a plastic or glass container, cover and refrigerate. The pickled beets will be ready to eat the next day and will keep for up to 2 months.
- Step 5
To make the sandwiches, toss the carrots and apple cider vinegar together in a small bowl; set aside 15 minutes.
- Step 6
In another small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, pimentón and garlic.
- Step 7
Split the focaccia squares in half horizontally and arrange on a large cutting board or baking sheet, cut sides up. Spread both cut sides with the pimentón mayonnaise. Arrange the egg slices evenly on the bottom half of the bread.
- Step 8
Drain the carrots and add them to a large bowl, along with the olives, capers, herbs and sliced beets. Add just enough olive oil to coat lightly and toss until combined. Mound the salad on top of the egg. Slice the feta and arrange on top of the salad (or crumble it on top).
- Step 9
Quickly replace the top of the bread before the sandwich falls apart, pressing gently to help it hold together, and serve right away.
Tip
- If you’d like to make pimentón aioli from scratch — rather than using store-bought mayonnaise, mash a garlic clove with a bit of salt until it makes a paste. Add 1 egg yolk, ½ teaspoon pimentón and 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar. Whisk the mixture and, while whisking, slowly drizzle in 4 ounces of olive oil until you make a thick aioli.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
Monica
As I live in a rural part of the country, and only have supercenters as my grocery stores, I had to make some substitutions - regular green olives, rather than oil-cured, and generic “pickling spices”, rather than all the ones called for. It was still absolutely delicious. One extra note - since I had a day to pickle the beets, I made my own focaccia. It made it all the better.
Anne
Once you have used all of the pickled beets, save the liquid and use it pickle hard boil eggs.
Excellent Sandwich!
This was a wonderful and unique sandwich. I pickeled my own beets, but started with those vaccum-packed roasted baby beets, which saved tons of time. Wow. What a revelation. They are delicious. I didn't have star anis, but I'll make sure to have it done the next batch.
I miss saltie
One of my favorite sandwiches of all time. You can play with the pickled veggies depending on what’s in season but the aioli and great bread is a must.
Gene R
So delicious! But a mess to eat. I am going to try making croutons from the remaining focaccia and assembling it all into a salad for lunch tomorrow. I want to eat it again, but with a fork!
Jess
I have missed this sandwich for years. Thanks for another resurrection — this time I’ll keep the recipe close
Liz
This was absolutely delicious. To avoid such a messy sandwich I used ciabatta rolls and took some of the bread out of the interior to keep all of the delicious messy innards within the confines of the bread and my mouth! Will make over and over again
Megan W
I would recommend eating this alone in the bathroom because no one should watch you try to fit this in your mouth and you will need to shower after. It's about a mile high and falls completely apart the moment you attempt to bite it. It's good but if I ever find myself with all the ingredients on hand (which is what tempted me to try this) I would recommend finding a way to make it into a salad or something. It's a TMF.
Elaine K.
This recipe has converted me to the idea of pickled things between bread (in addition to pickled cucumbers). I loved all the components. I must have messed up in the composition, because the egg took over and dominated the sandwich. If I repeat this sandwich I will make my own pickled beets using large beets so that one 1/4 inch slice covers the bread. And will use little or no egg.
Eliana
This was one of the best sandwiches I've had in my life. What I did differently from the recipe is that I used ciabatta rolls instead of focaccia, I used paprika and I made the aioli, I layered the sliced beets instead of mixing them into the salad and that's it. My herbs were very dill heavy and I didn't use cilantro. I would definitely recommend this to anyone, it was so good and after I had it I started looking forward to the next day when I could have it again.
Broken Glasses
Saltie was amazing, everything Fidanza aka Cheffie touched was amazing - her food is one of the only things I miss about NY. This sandwich was transcendental. I am excited the recipe is captured here and to attempt to make it myself.
Dianne
Delicious flavor. Ridiculous construction. Had to resort to knife & fork. Next time, just the goodies as a salad with focaccia on the side!
memphis cook
Modifications made due to necessity: hate, mayo, and instead grilled bread in skillet with olive oil, garlic and pimenton; inadvertently under-boiled egg so they were more like poached-.worked well. Used small ciabatta-type rolls, castevestrano olives, no capers. Didn’t marinate beats as long as required. Still great— and impossible to eat without mess!
Wink
This is really an intriguing sandwich. I made it as written, pickling my own beets and using the linked focaccia recipe. I would not have thought to put these specif ingredients together but they work!
Beth
Isn’t "pimenton" paprika? Why not call it by the common name? I had to look it up. Or is there a difference?
Catalina
No difference I could find online.
Ferguson
It's smoked paprika.
Dan
Yes, pimentón is the Spanish word for peppers or paprika of any variety, mild or hot, sun-dried or smoke-dried, but has become the English term for oak-smoked Spanish paprika, specifically Pimentón de la Vera Dulce, Agridulce, or Picante. It's similar to the way the French adjectival phrase "au jus" has been adopted as the English noun that refers to a meat broth or light gravy.
EC
I was practically in tears when Saltie closed. This is, and always will be, the greatest sandwich of all time (just in case you ever take The Colbert Questionnaire). Thanks NYT for spreading the gospel!
jb
This is as close to a classic New Zealand hamburger as you’ll get - the usual stuff plus pickled beetroot and a fried egg with a runny yolk. And speedway sauce (tomato sauce - NOT “ketchup - made with apple pulp to make it non-drip on your hot dog at the speedway) on your chips (french fries to you…)
Mer
I made this tonight. It was ok. Kind of interesting. Needed more crunch like pickled red onion maybe. But the earth did not move.
Jackie
This is by far one of the best sandwiches we have ever eaten. Unique in flavor. Tangy. Didn’t have focaccia so used sourdough. Absolutely amazing.
sherri
This makes a terrific salad too! Skip the bread, add romaine & make a vinaigrette with the aioli.
sara lucas
I could not find focaccia and had limited time, I used ciabatta bread instead and it was really great! One of the best sandwiches I’ve made.
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