San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Get saucy, cheesy meatball subs on the table faster by baking them
Meatballs speckled with herbs, tucked inside crusty bread with a generous smear of thick tomato sauce and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. This is just the kind of thing I reach for when I want to eat my feelings after a hard day.
But who has time to make meatballs and sauce, especially after a long day? This quick little number from the appropriately titled “Leon Happy Fast Food” by Rebecca Seal, Jack Burke and John Vincent (Conran, 2020) allows me to easily scratch that comfort-food itch on a weeknight. The cookbook features
100 recipes from the healthconscious British restaurant chain.
When I mention meatballs to folks, I sometimes get pushback: They’re too much trouble, too messy. If you keep the spicing simple and bake as described here, I actually find them pretty darn easy to throw together. And, maybe it’s just me, but I actually enjoy the process of forming them.
“Realizing you can bake meatballs is life-changing,” a colleague said to me the other day when she saw the photo of this baked meatball sub. I, like her, used to fry the meatballs on the stove and then drop them into homemade tomato sauce.
Here, you bake the meatballs on a wire rack set inside a rimmed sheet pan. This allows some of the fat to drip off, which I appreciate, and that hands-off cooking gives you time to make a quick sauce.
For the sauce, you can just open a jar of your favorite marinara, but I like this recipe because it produces a very thick sauce from canned tomato puree, a splash of olive oil and dried spices. If you cook it down just enough, you can spread it on the bread and dollop more on the meatballs for a less messy and very tomato-y sub.
For the meatballs, Parmesan cheese and fresh herbs, such as basil and scallions, ramp up the flavor without much effort. If you prefer, substitute fresh oregano or parsley. I like to use Italian breadcrumbs, but plain are fine, as well.
A couple of meatball tips: Divide your spiced ground meat into 12 equal amounts before you start shaping the meatballs. This way, you can be sure they will all be the same size and done at the same time. (I made mine with beef, but you could also use ground lamb, turkey or chicken.)
Then, handle the beef only as much as necessary to incorporate the ingredients and form the balls. The less you massage the meat, the more tender the meatballs will be. It’s okay if the balls are a bit misshapen.
Slip the sub rolls into the oven to lightly toast them — or not, if that suits your taste. Also, you can overstuff the subs or just have a few meatballs leftover for snacking. A sprinkling of basil leaves on top of each sub adds a pop of color and freshness, too.