Prevent Soggy Italian Sub Sandwiches With A Genius Greens Trick - Tasting Table

"So you want that flavor evenly distributed and not running all over the place. Instead of pouring your dressing directly on the bread, dress your greens before adding them to the sandwich, much like you would do with a salad. This gives the sauce something to cling to so that it doesn't soak into the bread. It also helps create that alchemical unity of ingredients that make a sandwich taste like more than the sum of its parts."

"However, compared to most deli sandwiches, Italian subs tend to forgo creamy condiments like mayo and mustard. Instead the most common choice is oil and vinegar, or sometimes even a salad dressing. But done haphazardly, or with too heavy of a hand, and those wetter condiments can easily saturate the bread or come dripping off the sub. So when we spoke to sandwich expert Paul Cacici about the best ways to upgrade an Italian sub he gave us a tip: Dress the greens first."

Italian subs commonly use oil and vinegar or salad dressings instead of creamy condiments. Heavy or haphazard application of wetter condiments can saturate the bread and make the sandwich soggy. Dressing the greens before adding them to the sandwich prevents dressing from soaking into the bread by giving the sauce something to cling to. Even distribution of acidic dressing enhances flavor balance and prevents dripping. Shredded iceberg lettuce provides texture and increased surface area so dressing adheres to the greens, improving overall sandwich structure and taste without watering down the bread.

Read at Tasting Table