Meatball Subs

     While grocery shopping this weekend we came across some very appetizing sub rolls with cheese baked in and on top of them. Christine said they looked perfect for meatball subs, I agreed. Once we got home I looked up a recipe for meatballs. I have a pretty good recipe that I normally use but for the sake of the blog, I wanted to try something new. I found this meatball  recipe on Allrecipes.com, one of my favorite websites for finding new things to try.

     I followed the recipe exactly as listed even though I prefer to caramelize the onions before adding them to the meatball mixture. After putting the meatballs in the oven, I warmed up some left over pizza sauce because I didn't have any homemade sauce in the freezer. Once the meatballs were done cooking, I cut open the rolls and put them under the broiler for a few minutes to toast them a bit to prevent the sauce from making them soggy. Next, I spread some sauce on each roll, put three meatballs on each one, topped with more sauce and some Italian blend cheese. You could start eating them at this point but I put them back under the broiled until the cheese bubbled and browned a little.

1 pound extra lean ground beef

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 small onion, diced

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

3/4 teaspoon dried oregano

3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 dash hot pepper sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup skim milk

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Place the beef into a mixing bowl, and season with salt, onion, garlic salt, Italian seasoning, oregano, red pepper flakes, hot pepper sauce, and Worcestershire sauce; mix well. Add the milk, Parmesan cheese, and bread crumbs. Mix until evenly blended, then form into 1 1/2-inch meatballs, and place onto a baking sheet.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, 20 to 25 minutes

     These came out really good but I think the meatballs need a little work. For one, there was way too much onion. If the amount of onion was cut in half or if they were cooked down, I think they would have been better. I put the leftover meatballs in the freezer for later use. The left over pizza sauce I used was good but homemade sauce would have taken these to the next level. The star of the show was definitely the roll. I’ve never come across a loaf of bread or a roll that has cheese baked into it that wasn’t good. The ones we bought came four to a package and we liked them so much that we ate the other two toasted with butter and garlic salt.

Rating: Yummy – Meatballs need work but a decent recipe

Meatballs

     I have made meatballs from scratch a number of times but they never come out the way I want them to. Last night however I think I got on the right track. Many of the recipes I find call for eggs and bread crumbs but with those you are making meatloaf. Yes meatloaf and meatballs are kind of the same thing but not quite. I decided to wing it and just start adding ingredients into the bowl. Here is the recipe for those of you who would like to try it:

1 lb. Ground Beef 80/20

¼ cup Bread Crumbs

3 tbs. Parmesan Cheese

¼ tsp. Garlic Salt

¼ tsp. Onion Powder

¼ tsp. Parsley Flakes

¼ tsp. Crushed Red Pepper

     I was able to get 11, one inch meatballs with the ingredients above. While I got the water coming to a boil, I put about 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan on medium high heat. Once the oil started to spread across the pan I added the meatballs. Only cook the meatballs enough to give the edges a bit if a crunch. Do not over cook them because you will let them simmer in sauce for about 15 minutes. This second round of cooking will get them cooked all the way through. I decided to add a whole jar of Wegmans Classics brand portabella mushroom sauce to the meatballs. Let the sauce and meatballs simmer until your pasta is done. I had a box of ziti in the pantry so I went with that instead of spaghetti like I had planned.

     The meatballs definitely had a kick to them, which I liked, but I agreed they were a bit on the spicy side like Christine said. They were cooked pretty close to where I wanted them but I think I left them in the pan too long during the first step. Next time I will have to make them bigger so I can get the crunch on the outside without cooking them all the way through. As for the spices, I think they need a little adjusting but these are definitely worth making a second time.

Rating: Yummy - A work in progress that will get better