Cuban Pork & Ham Sandwich

📝 Ingredients

• 500 g pork fillet
• 1 orange (zest and juice)
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp ground cumin + 1 tsp dried oregano
• 4 tsp olive oil (3 for the marinade, 1 for the pan)
• 1 baguette (about 250 g)
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 160 g cooked ham (4 slices)
• 80 g grated Emmental
• 8 gherkins (about 60 g)
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Ovenproof dish
• Fine grater
• Large non-stick frying pan
• Heavy saucepan (for pressing)
• Chopping board
• Serrated knife

📖 Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C. In the baking dish, mix the finely grated orange zest (only the orange part; the white pith is bitter), its juice, the crushed garlic, cumin, oregano, 3 tsp oil, a good pinch of salt and some pepper.
2. Remove the thin, shiny white membrane (silverskin) from the pork tenderloin by sliding the tip of a knife underneath: it shrinks during cooking and makes the meat curl. Roll the tenderloin in the marinade and leave to marinate for 15 min, turning it halfway through.
3. Roast the tenderloin in its dish with the marinade for 20 to 25 min, basting it with the juices halfway through. It's done when the juices that bead on the surface run clear and the meat is barely pink in the centre (63 °C core temperature). Don't overcook: pork tenderloin dries out quickly.
4. Take the meat out, wrap it in foil and leave to rest for 10 min: the juices redistribute and it will slice without falling apart. Then cut it on the diagonal into very thin slices (2 to 3 mm) and drizzle with the juices from the dish.
5. Cut the baguette into 4 equal lengths, then slice each one open horizontally. Spread a thin layer of mustard on both cut sides. Thinly slice the gherkins lengthways.
6. Fill each sandwich in this order: half its share of Emmental (20 g per sandwich), the pork, a slice of ham folded in half, the gherkins, then the rest of the Emmental. The cheese on the top and bottom acts as glue as it melts. Close and press down with your palm.
7. Heat the frying pan over a medium-low heat and grease it with ½ tsp oil spread with kitchen paper. Add 2 sandwiches, cover them with a sheet of baking paper and set a heavy saucepan on top, weighed down with tins, to flatten them by half.
8. Cook for 3 to 4 min until the underside is golden and crisp, then turn over, put the weight back on and cook for another 3 min, until the cheese oozes out at the sides. Too high a heat burns the bread before the filling warms through.
9. Keep the first batch warm in the switched-off oven, which is still warm, and cook the other 2 sandwiches in the same way with the rest of the oil. Cut each sandwich in half diagonally with the serrated knife and serve straight away, piping hot and crisp.