Meatball Subs

Soooo HEB has meatballs on sale this week, and I love a good grocery sale, but before stocking up on the pre-made meatballs I decided to try them out first. I have to tell you, they are incredibly delicious and so easy to make! Just pop them in the oven for 20 minutes on a foil wrapped pan and voila! You can do so many fun recipes with these but we opted for the traditional meatball sub. 

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the cooking process because it was a team effort in the midst of getting the boys down for bed (sigh, schedules) but I did manage to snap one photo of my sub before it was inhaled by me. 

You will need: 

1 pkg of pre-made meatballs (4 per sub)

2 sub loafs* 

*I use the ones in the big glass case at HEB I think they are only 50 cents

1-2 pkgs Mozzarella (3 slices per sub)

1 large carton of tomato sauce (no salt added)

1 cup of red wine

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon parsley

pinch of oregano

1/2 teaspoon of salt (more to taste)

2 cloves of garlic minced (I use the pre minced stuff in the jar)

Prepare meatballs according to package (line a baking pan with foil and cook at 375 for 20 minutes) - we tried the spicy italian ones and they were so good! 

While the balls are cookin' prepare your sauce (I'm sure you can use any jar sauce as well but I like to make this simple one that I use for everything, including lasagna...)

Add about half of the tomato sauce, basil, parsley, oregano, salt, garlic and wine to a small/medium saucepan. Bring to a "boil-ish" aka get it pretty hot, then cover and simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Taste the sauce and adjust seasonings as needed... if too salty add more tomato sauce, if not salty enough add more... you get the gist. 

When you are ready to make the subs, use the same pan or a different one it's up to you, just make sure it's a foil lined one. 

Slice your sub buns down the middle and press the bread inside to make an indention for the meatballs. 

Next add your meatballs to the sub (it should fit 3-4). They will probably be hot so I suggest using a fork or spatula for this step. 

Next, spoon some delicious sauce over the meatballs, but not too much or the bread will be soggy.

Use a slice of cheese and tear it to stuff in and around the meatballs -you will not regret this step, not one bit...

Cover the sub with two slices of mozzarella. 

Set your oven to broil and place subs in the oven on a foil wrapped pan. 

MAKE SURE you keep a close eye on these, seriously don't leave the room. They should take about 5 minutes max depending on your oven but you want to pull them out as soon as the cheese begins to brown. If you don't they go from brown to black VERY quickly.

If you're like me and prefer a lot of sauce there should be plenty left over for dipping! 

These subs pair beautifully with any side but I like them with a salad because they are fairly heavy.