Poor Man’s
Gourmet Kitchen

The Best Meatballs and Sub Sandwich

Here’s a two for one recipe. Actually, it’s a 3 in 1 recipe, technically but who’s counting. You’re getting an amazing Meatball recipe, a fantastic Garlic and Greens Butter Spread recipe and a sub recipe that is out of this world delicious. I’m even going to plug my Spaghetti Sauce and Pizza Sauce recipes as a Marinara option, as well.

Beef and Pork

The most important ingredients for a great meatball starts with the meat and, in my opinion, beef just isn’t enough. To really trick up the flavor you’ve got to add pork or pork sausage. In this case, I’m adding regular Bratwurst Sausage’s. Another good combination is the addition of veal. Ground beef, pork and veal make great meatballs, if you don’t want to use sausage. For this recipe, however, I like the Brat’s because of the additional ingredients put in that make the flavor of the sausage so unique in flavor, especially when it’s mixed in with beef to make meatballs.

Baked or Pan Fried

Meatballs can be cooked several different ways. The easiest, in my opinion, is baking them. I love a good pan fried meatball, don’t get me wrong, but when you’re preparing several other foods or filming at the same time, it’s a lot easier to just throw them in the oven and let them do their thing. I like to use these mini cup cake tins because the catch the grease and they fit a 1 1/2″ inch meatball, perfectly. I bake for 15-20 minutes at 400° F.

Grilled Bread for the Sub Rolls

You have to grill the bread when you’re making a Meatball Sub. You just have to. If you don’t, the sauce will take over the bread and turn it into a sloppy mess. Maybe that’s your thing, though. Just maybe, that’s the way you like it and you can just skip grilling altogether. Either way, I wouldn’t advise that you go with out this lovely Garlic and Green’s butter spread. It is divine and, because I do prefer my buns grilled, I spread this butter over both sides of the inside of fresh sub roll and lay it down flat on a hot skillet for a few minutes or until it fully toasts the spread. Then I fill it up with goods, minus the sauce (don’t add the sauce until the end).

Marinara, Spaghetti or Pizza Sauce

Of course, it’s entirely up to you which sauce you use and how much effort you want to put into making a Meatball Sub. Maybe it’s just me but I think the flavor of the sauce get’s bolder in the title order; Marinara, Spaghetti Sauce then Pizza Sauce. I have 2 Spaghetti Sauce recipes and a good Pizza Sauce recipe, if you you’re interested in making it from scratch. Personally, and for the sake of ease, I prefer just going with a jar of Prego and if you’ve got a problem with that then choose something else. All I recommend, if you choose a store bought sauce, is that you stay away from Ragu, yuck!

Meatballs Ingredients: Makes 30 1 1/2″ Meatballs

1 1/2 lbs Hamburger
1 lbs Original Bratwurst, 5 sausages
13 Ritz Crackers
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 tbsp Mexican Oregano
1 tsp Goya Adobo all purpose seasoning
2 eggs

1 Pinch of Kosher Salt and Pepper, optional

Oven 400° Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 minutes.

Meatball Sub Ingredients:

6 to 8 Sub Rolls
24 oz Spaghetti Sauce
6 to 8 slices Provolone or Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan, grated

Garlic and Green’s Spread
2 to 4 Green Onion
6 Basil Leaves
Hand full Fresh Spinach Leaves
2 Garlic Cloves
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 cube Butter, 1/2 cup
1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp Parmesan, fresh grated
1 pinch Kosher Salt and Pepper

Be sure to watch the video tutorial and I’ll show you how to make these incredible Meatballs and these Meatball Sub Sandwich’s.