Chance of meatballs
Popular online cook offers a summer favourite
Vis a keen home cook and baker who runs the hugely popular VJ Cools pages on Instagram and Facebook.
She lives in Taupo¯ with her husband and two sons. VJ Cooks continues to grow, with 110,000 followers on Instagram and more than 7 million visits to her recipe website vjcooks.com in 2022.
Summer Favourites offers relaxed, classic Kiwi recipes with a summer-light feel. It is destined to be one of your most wellthumbed cookbooks, with dishes to tickle the tastebuds of even the fussiest of eaters.
MEATBALL SUBS
The beauty of these subs is that you can either make them from scratch with the meatball recipe below, or if you’re short on time you can use pre-made meatballs from the supermarket.
Ingredients
500g lean beef mince
1⁄4 cup breadcrumbs
1 small onion, grated
1 egg
2 Tbsp barbecue sauce 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried mixed herbs 1 tsp garlic powder
1⁄2 tsp salt
1 tsp oil, for frying
325 g tomato pasta sauce
To serve:
4 long rolls
1 cup grated cheese fresh Italian parsley, chopped
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C fan grill. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
To make the meatballs, place the mince in a large bowl with the breadcrumbs, onion, egg, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce, herbs, garlic powder and salt.
Mix together with your hands or a wooden spoon.
Shape into 12 large meatballs or 16 smaller meatballs. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the meatballs until nicely browned and cooked through.
Add the pasta sauce and cook, stirring, for a few minutes, until heated through.
Cut the rolls in half and place them on the prepared tray. Divide the meatballs and sauce between the rolls.
Scatter with the cheese, then place under the grill for 10 minutes until the cheese is golden and bubbling.
Scatter with parsley and serve immediately.
Tips and tricks
Any type of meatballs would work in this recipe.
You can eat these as they are or add your favourite toppings, such as sour cream, mayonnaise, barbecue sauce or fresh salad ingredients.
I like to use the fresh tomato pasta sauces you can find in the chiller at the supermarket.