Italian Hoagie Dip

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Years and years ago, a friend made this Italian Hoagie Dip for a party I was at, and it was love at first bite. I’m a talker and normally make my rounds at parties, but at this get-together, the Italian Hoagie Dip was my favorite new friend.

It was one of those dishes that I woke up the next morning thinking about it and wondering if it was really as good as I remembered or if the 3 glasses of wine were clouding my judgement. I emailed the friend asking for the recipe and then promptly promised myself that I would only make it once every few years since it was a very real danger that I would devour that entire batch myself.

No worries, though friends. It was as good as I remembered. And I grew up with a sub shop not far from my home with authentic Italian hoagies that people drive all over for. Really, incredibly good hoagies. I still will very rarely get one anywhere else (even in the town I’ve now lived in for 17 years), because nothing compares to the ones that I grew up with.

This dip tastes like those hoagies. It seriously does. It should really be called A&M Italian Hoagie Dip. Side note: If you’re ever visiting Hersheypark, drive 5 minutes down the road and stop by A&M. No affiliation at all… they just should be shouted from every rooftop in Central PA!

It’s been a few years since I’ve made it because of that whole thing about me devouring it all by myself and because I’m actually not really a lunchmeat fan. Even if you look at my ham sliders that I looove, there’s no lunchmeat! I use real ham slices, although you certainly could use lunchmeat there if you wanted!

There’s really no logical reason why I should like this dip so much, because I rarely eat lunch meat and when I do it’s usually in a hot sandwich (a grilled ham and cheese will always be okay in this house). But for some reason, this dip gets me over my dislike of lunchmeat and tastes amazing.

I usually mix everything but the lettuce up the night before. I think it tastes better when made the day before, so the flavors have a chance to blend together. I know some people just throw their chopped lettuce in at this point too, but I wait and add the lettuce right before we leave for our picnic.

I just have this thing with wilted lettuce (this post is making me sound like I have “a thing” with lots of foods. I swear I don’t!). But wilted lettuce and I do not gel too well, so the lettuce gets added right before serving for me. Do whatever is easiest for you, though!