Meatball Subs

I think of a bunch of times when serving meatball subs is a perfect option. I started making these for my kids as an after-practice snack but since they are so easy to make, they became a great dinnertime option too.  Of course they will taste better with homemade meatballs, but you can certainly cheat and use store bought frozen meatballs.

Meatball Sub Recipe

Ingredients:

• About 30 homemade meatballs or a bag of frozen meatballs
• 1 (24 ounce) jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce or make the homemade marinara sauce listed below
  
• 8 Sub Buns ( I like Gonnella Brand buns that I can usually find near the deli counter in my grocery store)
• 1/2 - 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Simmer meatballs in spaghetti or marina sauce until heated through.

Place 3-4 meatballs in each sub bun, and spoon over additional sauce as desired.

Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese

Broil for 1+ minute until the cheese starts to melt

Yield: about 7-8 subs

Cook's Notes
If you are using store-bought frozen meatballs, I would recommend browning them in the pan first before adding the sauce. Just a few minutes of browning will add extra flavor!

Also the ingredient quantity for this recipe are fairly fluid. The amount of sauce you will need will depend on how large your meatballs are and how saucy you like your subs. When simmering the meatballs I like to almost cover the meatballs with sauce.

Homemade Marinara Sauce Recipe

If you don't want to use store-bought marinara sauce or spaghetti sauce, this is a quick way to make it homemade:

Ingredients
2 (28 ounce cans of crushed tomatoes (San Marzano preferred)
1 medium onion, diced (about 3/4 of a cup)
1/4 cup chopped carrots (you can use 6-7 baby carrots for this)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 garlic clove
1 Tbs dried or fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tbs sugar

Directions:
Saute the onion, carrots and garlic in the olive oil until soft but not browned.  Add the crushed tomatoes, basil, salt and sugar. Simmer for 20 minutes on low until flavors are combined

You can half this recipe or freeze any leftover sauce.