Goat Cheese Meatball Subs with Caramelized Onions


Is conundrum.

Started blogging many hours ago.

Blogging frequently interrupted by teeny tiny child.

Child laughs, time to play.


Child cries, rock him down to snoozle town.

Good fun. But blogging?

Doesn't get done.

Only part I need two hands is this. The rest is point and click.


Yet here I am, teeny tiny child asleep on lap. One handed after all.

Most delicious meatball subs. Pictures are fuzzy! Sorry.

Bad pics = great food, as our pic snapping hands trembled with food lust.

Caramelized onions and goat cheese in the meat balls.


Love, love, love.

Love.

Goat Cheese Meatball Subs with Caramelized Onions (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Meatballs
The baguettes or seeded sandwich rolls you’ll use for your sandwiches
2 pound ground meat of your choice
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/3 cup finely grated goat cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 small garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 large egg
Olive oil
4 cups prepared tomato sauce (plus extra if you like a lot of extra sauce)

Caramelized onions
2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt

Assembly
2 cups coarsely shredded cheese

Make the meatballs: Split your rolls almost the whole way through, leaving one side attached. Scoop out some of the roll to create a channel for the meatballs to rest in. Grind the bread you pulled out in a food processor or tear it into minuscule bits. You will need 1 1/3 cups or 2 3/4 ounces of fresh breadcrumbs for the meatballs. If you’re not making subs, you can get this same amount of breadcrumbs from 2 to 3 sandwich bread slices. Set rolls aside until later.

Place the fresh breadcrumbs in a large bowl with 3/4 cup warm water and all of the meatball ingredients except for the olive oil and tomato sauce. Combine with a fork, breaking up clumps of meat until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Form mixture into 2-inch meatballs are arrange on a tray. I find wet hands make it easier to form meatballs without them sticking too much.

Heat a generous slick of oil (few tablespoons) in a large saute pan with a lid. Brown meatballs in batches, being careful not to crowd the pan or nudge them before they are nicely browned or they will stick and you’ll leave delicious meatball bits in the pan. These meatballs are soft, so use a gentle hand. Transfer meatballs to a paper towel-lined tray and continue until they are all browned.

Discard the oil and heat your tomato sauce in the pan. Add the meatballs, cover the pan and simmer them on the lowest heat possible for 25 to 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through.

Caramelize onions: While the meatballs are simmering, you can cook the onions. Heat the olive oil and butter in a heavy large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion, sprinkle with salt and a little pepper and cook until they’re tender, sweet, and a deep golden brown, stirring occasionally. This takes me about 30 minutes.

Assemble subs: Arrange meatballs with sauce in the hollowed-out roll(s). Drape caramelized onions over the top and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Place subs under a broiler or in an oven at top heat to melt the cheese.

9 comments:

Ana Regalado said...

That's one mouthwatering sub you got there ;) Better than my blah Subway I'm eating right now :P :D Maybe that little guy will be an awesome cook , too , someday :D

Cakebrain said...

Drool! It's stuff like this that makes me yearn for gluten ! I miss subs so much! It looks so good!

jeannesioux said...

Oh boy. That looks good! I'll bet that was a hit with your husband.

LynnieBee said...

OmNomNom!!! Sooooo good :)

libby said...

food lust, lol

Una Semplice Passione said...

Oo lala! Definitely something I want to try out! Maybe for a movie night with friends.

Anonymous said...

Greetings From Southern California

Yummy to the tummy :-) Thanks for another great recipe to add to my collection.

Thanks for your recent visit to My Blog

Take care and have a nice day :-)

Divya said...

OOoooh...I haven't had a meatball sub in a while. This is so tempting with the cheese and the caramelized onions (which I'm a sucker for!).

amlamonte said...

divya - it really was the caramelized onions that sold me on this! :)