Subway Inspired Meatball Marinara Sub

Sauce:
1 rib celery
1 carrot
6-8 cloves of garlic
28 oz. can of San Marzano Peeled tomatoes
2 tbsp. of tomato paste
1/2 tbsp. of dried Italian herbs (basil and oregano, plus maybe some others)
2 teaspoons of sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Meatball:
1 lb. beef
1 lb. pork
Reserved Soffritto
1 tbsp. dried Italian Herbs
1/2 cup bread crumb/panko
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Salt and pepper to taste

Bread:
Some kind of sandwich roll that you toast beautifully!

0:00-1:26 Intro
1:27-2:53 Marinara Sauce
2:54-4:34 Meatballs
4:35-5:10 Bread

This sandwich was a huge hit at a holiday party!  And because subway was the inspiration for this   recipe video, of course I had to do a side by  side comparison. And while I did enjoy subway’s   sandwich, I have to admit that I liked mine  better. And truthfully this recipe does not even  

Deviate from the concept of a standard meatball  sub. In fact, my final result was still meatballs   in red sauce, inside French bread, topped with  provolone and parmesan cheese. But what elevated   my final product from subway’s original was  simply incorporating classic cooking techniques  

Which quite frankly I think should be mandated in  all sandwich shops. Which just goes to show you,   with a little bit of love, knowledge, and  technique, you can always make great food   at home. So without wasting any more time, let’s  get into how I as a home cook would make a subway  

Inspired meatball sub. Let’s start off with the  sauce! This is what I call as close to Authentic   Italian Red sauce as I can make it and it includes  this key ingredient, San Marzano tomatoes. These   tomatoes grow in Italian Volcanic ash and pack so  much more flavor and nutrients than fresh tomatoes  

And other canned tomatoes. So I highly recommend  prioritizing this specific ingredient. I start   this sauce with dicing some carrots, celery, and  onions. These will go in a pot with some olive oil   and salt. This is what some Italians might call  the Soffritto. This may look like a lot of onions  

Celery and carrots but I am going to use half  for the sauce and half for the meatballs. I sauté   that all on medium low for about ten minutes or  until everything is translucent and has had time  

To sweeten.Next I add some tomato paste, I cook  that off for about a minute then add lots of fresh   minced garlic. I am also going to add my seasoning  which is salt, pepper, and some dried basil and  

Oregano. Let that cook for about 1 minute then  I take out half of the Soffritto to use in the   meatballs. While my sauce is simmering this is  a great time to work on the star of the dish,  

The meatballs. Let me show you some of my tips  and tricks to get the best meatballs. The key   to a perfectly tender meatball is the slurry. A  slurry is bread crumbs soaked in milk and eggs.   The slurry will prevent the meat from turning  into hard rubber. And before you even think about  

Skipping this step just ask yourself, how pleasant  does this sound, would anybody like some hard   rubbery balls? Because that’s exactly what you’ll  have to tell your dinner guests if you skip this   step, so don’t. Mix that all together and you  really want to give your bread crumbs time to  

Soak in the milk and eggs, so let that all sit  together for about 10 to 15 minutes. Once my bread   crumbs are soft, now we can start mixing. I keep  things standard with one pound of ground beef,   one pound of ground pork, some salt,  pepper, some more dried Italian herbs,  

And the reserved Soffritto. This was actually a  double batch which is why my bowl is so full, but   carefully I am just going in with my hands with  some folding motions to incorporate everything.   Once everything is incorporated you are ready to  start molding! Roll out some even golf ball sized  

Balls on a foiled sheet tray without any touching.  Here is my next trick for quick meatballs,   we are going to brown these under the broiler. The  broiler is the fastest and my favorite way to get   a large batch beautifully browned in an oven.  Some people may brown their meatballs in a pan,  

Which I think can take too much time with  this large of a batch. So under my broiler,   I pop these in for 12 to 15 minutes. Or until I  start to see the meat brown. Pro tip, never serve  

Meatballs without this color. Those brown spots  are full of flavor and will add so much more to   a dish than you think. Once those are cooked,  drop those meatballs into your simmering sauce,   and let that all simmer together for about  thirty to forty minutes. This will help the  

Flavors of the sauce marry the flavors of the  meatballs, ensuring a very tasty final product.  Another wonderful fact about meatball marinara  is that you can make it all the night before   and reheat it the next day without compromising  flavor or texture. Which makes this recipe super  

Potluck friendly. Now let’s talk about the bread.  You can make your own bread or you can do what I   did and find some French bread at a local bakery.  The trick to getting the most out of this bread  

Though, is to toast it and toast it nicely. This  will keep our sandwich from going soggy and it   will also add a lovely buttery crunch. This is  also a step I highly recommend not skipping. I   slather on a generous amount of room temperature  butter, bonus points if you make a garlic butter,  

And I pop that under my broiler until I have  this gorgeous golden crust. Now comes the final   and best step which is the assembly. I scoop  on some meatballs and sauce. On top of that   will go some sliced provolone which for some  reason I ripped in half, and finally a layer  

Of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano. You can pop  that all under a broiler to get the cheese melty,   but my sauce was hot enough to melt most of  the cheese. One missing touch I wish I had was   adding some kind of fresh green herb like fresh  parsley or green onion. But since subway’s didn’t  

Have any herbs I tried to keep this sandwich  simple. And that right there is a high quality,   delicious meatball marinara sub made with love.  Anyways, I hope you give this recipe a try. Be   sure to subscribe, leave a like, and comment  what you would like to see from me in my next  

Recipe video. Thank you so much for watching  and I will see you in my next one. Goodbye!