Meatball Sandwich with Marinara Sauce
You don't have to go another day without experiencing this meaty, saucy, cheesy bundle of deliciousness.
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 3/4 pound lean ground beef
- 1 Italian sausage just the meat squeezed out of the casing
- 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and diced
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons plain bread crumbs
For the Marinara Sauce:
- 2 cans (15 ounces each) tomato sauce
- 1/3 cup chopped onion
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and diced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
- 3 dashes salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
For the Sandwich:
- 2 large French rolls
- 6 large slices of Provolone-Mozzarella cheese or just Mozzarella is fine too
Instructions
For the Meatballs:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, add ground beef, Italian sausage, bell pepper, onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and egg.
- Mix all ingredients together and form 6 large meatballs. Set the meatballs on a small baking pan and bake uncovered in a preheated oven until they're completely cooked through and browned (about 17 to 20 minutes).
- Remove from the oven and let rest for about 8 minutes. Keep the oven on for use to melt the cheese on the sandwich.
- After the meatballs have rested, carefully cut each one in half. Set aside for a moment while prepping the sandwich roll.
For the Marinara Sauce:
- While the meatballs are cooking, heat a medium size pan on medium heat an add add olive oil. Add the onion and garlic. Sauté and stir for 4 minutes.
- Then, to the pan add tomato sauce, dried oregano, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
- Stir all ingredients together and simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes.
For the Sandwich:
- Cut the rolls in half lengthwise but not all the way to the bottom. Leave about an inch uncut at the bottom of the roll and slightly open each roll.
- Ladle 1/2 cup* of marinara sauce along the inside of each roll. *Depending on how sturdy and thick the bottom of the roll is, this amount of marinara sauce may need to be less or omitted so that the bottom of the roll doesn't get soggy.
- In each roll, add 3 meatball halves (cut-side towards either side of the roll).
- Ladle another 1/2 cup of marinara sauce on top of the meatballs in each roll. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top of the sauce.
- To the sandwiches, lay 3 pieces of the sliced cheese on top of the meatballs in each roll.
- Bake in a preheated oven (at 375 degrees F.) until the cheese melts (about 8 minutes).
- Lay the remaining meatballs (cut-side down) on top of the melted cheese in each sandwich and ladle on more sauce. There may be some sauce leftover.
- Top with the Parmesan cheese and serve warm.
Notes
TIP:
- Depending on how sturdy and thick the bottom of the roll is, the amount of marinara sauce added to the bottom of the bread may need to be less or omitted so that the bottom of the roll doesn't get soggy.