As we wrote in the last entry on elderflower drinks, we have a sunday tradition with a couple of friends. Most sundays we end up making some kind of comfort food, like burgers, Sloppy Joe’s, chili dogs or some kind of sandwich. Last sunday we decided to make Italian meatball sandwiches (as we, Chris and I, are planning a trip to Tuscany later this summer), and they turned out to be great – as usual 🙂 Actually they were so great, that the guys eat way too much and ended up sitting in our bathing pool in their underwear, complaining about stomach pain (we will spare you the actual picture of this ;-)). Out of the 8 ‘small’ sandwiches you will get from this recipe, we ate it all – which explains the stomach pain – but all four of us are ‘heavy-eaters’ when it comes to good food, so you might have food enough for 6-8 people, depending on their sandwich-hunger 😀 Hope that you will try the recipe and enjoy it as much as we do!

Ingredients (8 ‘small’ sandwiches)

Meatballs
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
2 cups breadcrumbs
1 cup milk
2 shallots
4 garlic cloves
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/3 cup feta cheese
3 tbsp. thyme leaves, fresh
2 tbsp. rosemary leaves, fresh
1 egg
Salt
Pepper

Tomato sauce:
3 cups tomato sauce
4 tbsp. tomato paste

2 French baguettes
2-3 tbsp. mayo
8 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
1 bundle of cilantro

Meatballs:
Combine breadcrumbs and milk in a mixing ball and make sure that all the crumbs get soaked. Set aside while chopping the shallots, garlic, feta cheese, thyme and rosemary.
In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients for the meatballs. Mix well using your fingers, as it will give the best result. Divide the meat into 8 equally sized meatballs, approximately the size of a baseball. Place in a greased ovenproof dish and bake in the oven at 350F until the reach 165F – approximately 40 minutes.
Don’t turn off the oven when the meatballs are finished, as you also need to warm the baguettes later on. Tomato sauce: Combine tomato sauce and paste in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Let boil for 5-10 minutes before turning down the heat. Let simmer with the lid on for approximately one hour or until the meatballs are ready to get soaked. Stir occasionally to avoid burning. Place the baked meatballs in the tomato sauce and make sure that the whole meatball gets marinated in the sauce. If necessary, pour some of the sauce on top of the meatballs. Let simmer for additional 25-30 minutes. When the meatballs are ready you can begin to assemble the sandwiches 😀 Slice the baguettes lengthwise and spread out the mayo on both the top and bottom. Place 4 meatballs and a bit of tomato sauce on each bottom followed by a slice of cheese. Place both the baguette bottom with the meatballs and the top with the mayo on a wire rack, and warm in the oven until the cheese has melted. Decorate with cilantro on top of the melted cheese and finish off with the baguette top. Cut each sandwich into 4 pieces with one meatball in each. Serve with an ice cold beer or a glass of good Italian wine, if you like it a bit more sophisticated 😉

Bon Appétit friends!

Ingredients (8 ‘small’ sandwiches)
Meatballs:
450 g ground beef
450 g ground pork
5 dl breadcrumbs
2.5 dl milk
2 shallots
4 garlic cloves
1.25 dl parmesan cheese, grated
0.8 dl feta cheese
3 tbsp. thyme leaves, fresh
2 tbsp. rosemary, fresh
1 egg
Salt
Pepper

Tomato sauce:
7.5 dl tomato sauce
4 tbsp. tomato paste

2 French baguettes
2-3 tbsp. mayo
8 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
1 bundle of cilantro