Turkey Meatball Sandwiches

Perfect Pairing:  Hollowed out bread

Dude food.   That is what I think of when I think about meatball sandwiches.  They are quite manly.  Oh, I also think of Joey Tribbiani on Friends.  He had a thing for meatball sandwiches.  I would love to cook for Joey.  I think he would like anything I put in front of him. 

Even though I made these for my cousin, who is definitely a dude, I did have to girly-up the sandwiches a little bit.  I don’t think he noticed.  I substituted lean ground turkey for beef, or whatever they use in normal meatballs.  In addition, I used a small amount of hot Italian pork sausage.  It added a ton of flavor without much added fat.

I made my own sauce with just a few ingredients, but you could easily substitute your favorite store bought sauce. 

When I was putting the sandwiches together I realized it was a lot of bread.  I made the bread “skinny” by tearing out the soft insides to save on calories.  Thank you Potbelly’s for the idea!  You really don’t miss the extra bread and it makes the sandwich easier to handle.

Turkey Meatball Sandwiches

Lindsay at Perfecting the Pairing

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

·         1 lb ground turkey

·         1/3 lb ground hot Italian pork sausage

·         1 egg

·         1 shallot, chopped

·         4 cloves garlic, chopped, divided

·         ¼ cup chopped parsley, divided

·         ¼ cup breadcrumbs

·         ½ cup grated parmesan

·         1 Tb Worcestershire sauce

·         1 Tb olive oil

·         1 onion, chopped

·         2 ½ Tb tomato paste

·         30 oz crushed, fire roasted tomatoes

·         1 Tb Italian seasoning

·         Salt and pepper, to taste

·         6 medium sized crusty rolls, sliced and hollowed out

·         6 slices provolone cheese

Directions:

In a large bowl combine the ground turkey, sausage, egg, chopped shallot, two cloves of chopped garlic, two tablespoons chopped parsley, breadcrumbs, parmesan, and Worcestershire sauce.  Gently mix with your hands until ingredients are evenly combined.  Roll into golf ball sized meatballs. 

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Sauté the meatballs in the skillet until they are browned on all sides.  They do not need to be fully cooked.  Remove the meatballs from the pan and set aside.

In the same pan, sauté the chopped onion (add olive oil if necessary) until it starts to soften.  Add the remaining chopped garlic and sauté until fragrant.  Stir in the tomato paste until evenly combined.  Add the crushed tomatoes, parsley, seasoning, and one half teaspoon salt.  Stir until combined.  Add the meatballs to the sauce and bring to a simmer.  Cover and let simmer until the meatballs are cooked through, about 20 minutes.  Taste the sauce for seasoning and add salt and pepper, if necessary.

Preheat the broiler.  To serve, slice the rolls and hollow out the centers (optional).  Place on a foil lined pan.  Top the bottom half of the roll with about three meatballs and a spoon of sauce.  Cover with a piece of provolone cheese.  Repeat with the remaining rolls.  Broil until the cheese is melted and the bread toasts.  You may need to remove the top half of the roll if it is starting to toast too much and the cheese is not melted.

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