Food Friday - Meatball Subs

We have a new New Year's Tradition and it is called Meatball Subs on New Year's Eve.  My husband is a big fan of a good meatball sub.  As a matter of fact, when we order in from our local Italian Eatery, he always gets a meatball sub.  My decision to make them on New Year's Eve of 2011 was an accident that only happened because I had leftover meatballs from another Christmas gathering.  I went digging in one of my favorite recipe locations (All Recipes.com) for one that got high reviews and this recipe proved true to it's promise.

Meatball Subs
adapted from All Recipes.com

I will confess that I did not make homemade meatballs for our subs since I had 1/2 of a frozen bag of meatballs in the freezer but, with that said, I MUCH prefer homemade meatballs to the "meatballs" in the bag. (What is in them anyway??)  The sauce was not overly sweet but had a great taste.  I actually threw everything into the crock pot and let it heat up on low for about 4-5 hours.  It was really good!


(Please note - this recipe below is only for 2 subs total)
Ingredients

• 2 (6 inch) submarine buns
• 1/2 pound lean ground beef
• 2 tablespoons beaten egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon diced onion
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Dash pepper
• 1/2 medium green pepper, julienned
• 1/4 cup sliced onion
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup chili sauce
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground mustard

Directions

1. Cut a thin slice off the top of each bun; scoop out bread from inside. Cover buns and tops with plastic wrap; set aside. Crumble 1/3 cup of the removed bread and place in a bowl. Add the beef, egg, milk, diced onion, salt and pepper; mix well. Shape into eight meatballs, about 1-1/2 in. each.
2. In a nonstick skillet, cook meatballs for 15-20 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove with a slotted spoon; set aside. In the same skillet, saute green pepper and sliced onion in oil until tender. Remove with a slotted spoon; set aside. Stir flour into skillet. Add chili sauce and water. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes.
3. Stir in brown sugar and mustard. Add meatballs, green pepper and onion; cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, warm buns at 325 degrees F for 8-10 minutes. Spoon meatballs and sauce into buns; replace tops.

I did many things differently than the recipe above :-)  First, I almost tripled the sauce (I used a whole jar of Chili sauce by the time I was done) in order to have enough sauce with the meatballs I had in the crock pot.  Also, I did not put the onion or green pepper (I actually did not use any green pepper this time) in with the meatballs.  I saute the onion up just before serving and we put it on our sandwiches separately.  I also took the sub buns, buttered them, and placed a slice of provolone cheese on one side before placing them under the broiler for about 1-2 minutes.  Yummy!!

If you try out these subs and enjoy them, please let me know!