New Jersey Italian Hot Dogs Recipe
New Jersey Italian Hot Dogs might give greasy diner vibes but only in the best possible way. There's magic in the sauteed peppers, onions, and potatoes piled onto juicy hot dogs stuffed into homemade pizza bread rolls. If you have spent enough time in the Garden State, you know what I'm talking about.
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
Pizza Bread
- 1 ½ cups warm water (about 110°F)
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast or instant yeast
- 3 ½ to 4 cups bread flour (455g to 520g)
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
Fillings
- 4-6 Tablespoons olive oil
- 4 beef hot dogs
- 1 pound yukon gold potatoes, washed and sliced about ¼" thick
- 1 yellow onion, sliced
- 1 green, red, or yellow bell pepper, sliced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- 4 Italian bread rolls or pizza rolls to be even more authentic
- Yellow mustard or brown deli mustard (optional)
Instructions
Make the Pizza Bread
- Combine warm water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. If using active dry yeast, let it proof for 5 minutes until foamy. If using instant yeast, there is no need to wait for the yeast to proof. Add flour, olive oil, and salt and stir well with a wooden spoon or mix in a stand mixer with a dough hook until combined. Knead for 5 minutes using a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment or 6-7 minutes by hand until smooth and elastic. The dough will be tacky and slightly sticky, but should still be manageable to work with.
- Drizzle a clean bowl with a little olive oil, then place the ball of dough in the bowl and turn it to coat in the oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean cloth and let rise for at least 30 minutes (or up to 1 ½ hours) until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 475°F while the dough is rising.
- Divide the pizza dough in half and roll it out into a roughly 8-inch circle on a piece of parchment paper. It should be about ¾ to 1-inch thick. Use your finger or the handle of a wooden spoon to create a 1-inch hole in the center of the circle of dough, then transfer the parchment paper with the pizza bread dough to a baking sheet.
- Bake each loaf of pizza bread for 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before cutting into quarters. You should get two large round pizza breads, which makes 8 pizza bread buns for your Italian hot dogs. The rest of the recipe is only for 4 servings, so you can either freeze the second pizza bread for up to 2 months for another day or double the hot dogs and fillings to serve 8.
Prep Veggies and Hot Dogs
- This recipe goes much easier when you wash and slice the potatoes, peppers, and onions first before you start to cook everything. The potatoes should be sliced thin, but not paper-thin. Just about ¼ to ½-inch thick or so so that they can cook through and be tender but still get crispy from the pan.
- Heat a large cast iron skillet or other heavy bottom pan over medium-high heat. Add 4 Tablespoons of olive oil. Once hot, add the sliced potatoes in an even layer. Let the potatoes cook on the first side for 2-3 minutes, then use a spatula to turn the potatoes. Continue to cook, flipping the potatoes occasionally, until golden brown and crispy on the outsides but soft and tender inside, about 10 minutes total. Season well with salt and pepper. Transfer the cooked potatoes to a separate plate and set aside.
- Add the remaining olive oil to the pan. Once it is hot, saute the sliced onions and bell pepper until tender crisp, around 8-10 minutes. Season with salt & pepper, oregano, and crushed red pepper. Push the veggies to the side of the pan to make room to cook the hot dogs.
- Add the hot dogs to the same pan that you cooked the potatoes and vegetables in. Cook the hot dogs, turning occasionally with tongs or a spatula, until hot all the way through and the casing has crisped up slightly on the outside.
Assembly
- Slice the loaf of pizza bread into quarters, then partially slice open each quarter from the pointed part to the edge without completely separating the two halves. The goal is to make a sort of pocket to hold the hot dog and fillings so they don't spill out quite as much while you eat it.
- If you want mustard, I would add it to the inside of the pizza bread bun before stuffing it with the other fixings. Place one or two of the griddled hot dogs inside the pizza bread bun, then stuff the bun with a healthy amount of the fried peppers, potatoes, and onions. We are talking almost half a potato worth of fried potato slices and filling each bun so full that they look overflowing to get the ratio right of fixings, hot dog, and bun. It's okay if you need a fork to help eat these as toppings fall out.
- I like to sprinkle some extra oregano and maybe some crushed red pepper flakes over the veggies for a bit more kick. Or you could add ketchup and/or mustard, if you feel so inclined.
Notes
- If you can get pizza bread, that's even more authentic, but it's hard to come by outside of New Jersey.
- If you have leftovers (or want to make a big batch so you have leftovers for another day), you can store the fried potatoes, onions, and peppers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. The pizza bread will keep on the counter in an airtight container for about the same amount of time, although you might want to sprinkle it with a little water, wrap it in foil, and heat in a 300°F oven for 10 minutes to refresh it before using. You can also freeze the pizza bread and thaw before using.