Meatball Sub

Name: Meatball Sub
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 2 unit sub rolls (split, hinged); 1 lb ground beef (80/20); 1 lb ground pork; ½ cup breadcrumbs (fine, dry); 5 tbsp milk (whole); 1 unit egg (beaten); ⅓ cup parmesan (grated); 2 tbsp parsley (chopped); 4 clove garlic (minced — half for the meatballs, half for the sauce); 1 ½ tsp salt; ½ tsp black pepper (ground); 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 unit onion (finely diced); 2 cup tomato (canned, crushed); 1 tbsp tomato paste; ½ tsp oregano (dried); ¼ cup basil (torn leaves); 4 oz low-moisture mozzarella (sliced or shredded)

Sandwiches & Handhelds · American

18 ingredients · 65 minutes · 4 servings

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626kcal41.8g protein32.7g fat40.6g carbs~$2.70/ serving*

Contains gluten, dairy, egg

Restrictions

Containsgluten · dairy · eggIt is in an ingredient you cannot leave out.

Diets

No alcohol

Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.

Ingredients

Servings:

2 unit	sub rolls (split, hinged)
1 lb	ground beef (80/20)
1 lb	ground pork
½ cup	breadcrumbs (fine, dry)
5 tbsp	milk (whole)
1 unit	egg (beaten)
⅓ cup	parmesan (grated)
2 tbsp	parsley (chopped)
4 clove	garlic (minced — half for the meatballs, half for the sauce)
1 ½ tsp	salt
½ tsp	black pepper (ground)
2 tbsp	olive oil
1 unit	onion (finely diced)
2 cup	tomato (canned, crushed)
1 tbsp	tomato paste
½ tsp	oregano (dried)
¼ cup	basil (torn leaves)
4 oz	low-moisture mozzarella (sliced or shredded)

Optional

Not counted above. The dish works without them.

¼ tsp	red pepper flakes
½ tsp	sugar (only if the tomatoes are sharp)
1 tbsp	butter (softened, for the rolls)
2 tbsp	pickled jalapeños

Steps

Mix5 min
room temperature, 10 min rest
breadcrumbs + milk, mashed to a paste and left to swell = panade. The starch holds free water inside the meatball as it cooks; without it the beef proteins contract and squeeze out their juice, which is the whole difference between tender and rubbery
Mix5 min
hands, light touch
panade + beef + pork + egg + parmesan + parsley + half the garlic + 1 tsp salt + black pepper, folded just until cohesive — kneading it develops the myosin into a springy sausage bind, so stop the moment you no longer see streaks
Prep8 min
1.5 in balls, damp hands
roll into 10 meatballs and set them apart on a plate; damp hands keep the surface smooth so it browns evenly instead of shedding crumbs into the oil
Sear8 min
medium-high, single uncrowded layer
olive oil + meatballs, turning to brown three or four faces, then lift out still raw at the center. Leave gaps between them — steam trapped between crowded meatballs stops the surface from ever reaching browning temperature
Saute5 min
medium, in the meatball fat
- onion
- tomato
+ onion + remaining garlic + tomato paste, scraping the browned fond off the pan bottom as the onion releases water; the paste needs to darken a shade in the fat or the sauce tastes raw and tinny
Simmer25 min
low, partly covered
- oregano
+ crushed tomato + oregano + 0.5 tsp salt + meatballs returned to the pan, turning them once. They finish at a bare simmer rather than a boil — agitation breaks them apart, and the collagen in the pork needs slow heat to soften while the sauce reduces around them = sauce and meatballs together
Broil4 min
high, top rack, watched
split rolls, cut side up, briefly toasted dry, then filled with meatballs + a spoonful of sauce + mozzarella and returned until the cheese blisters. The dry toast first is structural: it sets a crust that keeps the sauce from soaking through the bottom of the bread. Finish with torn basil off the heat, since broiler heat turns it black and bitter