Stuffed Italian Meatball Grinder
Stuffed Italian Meatball Grinder
On the East Coast, a grinder is a sandwich on Italian hoagie rolls with hot ingredients instead of cold cuts; with cheese and Italian salad on it. My sandwich is reminiscent of the old MN state fair grinder stall that serve meatballs, sauce, and cheese stuffed into hollowed out Italian bread; instead of slicing the bread in half.
Ingredients
- hoagie buns
- mozzarella cheese shredded
Meatballs
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef or 50/50 ground beef and pork
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/2 small yellow onion finely chopped
- 6 garlic cloves minded
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper optional
Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 small yellow onion finely chopped
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 16 oz canned crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1/4 cup basil chopped
- 2 tbsp oregano chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Mix all of the meatball ingredients together.
- Roll into mini meatballs about the size of a cherry.
- Add olive to a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Cook the meatballs for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the pan.
- Add in another 2 tbsp of olive oil. Sauté the onions for 4 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
- Add in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.
- Deglaze the pan with the red wine. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
- Add the meatballs into the sauce. Cover and simmer for 10 more minutes.
Sandwich Assembly
- Cut each of the hoagie buns in half. Hollow out the inside, making sure not to tear open the outside.
- Place one of the halves in a pint glass to hold it upright. Put a small pinch of mozzarella in the bottom.
- Place 2 meatballs and some sauce on the bottom.
- Repeat this layering process 2 more times so there’s a total of 6 meatballs in the sandwich.
- Place some mozzarella cheese on top.
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