Mmmozzarella Meatball Subs

Remember when Joey on Friends swore his meatball sandwich was “the greatest sandwich in the world”? He loved it so much he even dove to ‘protect it’ from what he thought was gunfire, prompting Chandler to think he cared more about Ross, who was next to the sandwich, than him. 

Turns out it was actually a car backfiring and nobody and no sandwiches were ever in any danger but whatever - to Joey, it was worth taking a bullet for.

To quote Chandler, could there be any higher compliment paid to a sandwich?

Ever since I started this sandwich blog, I’ve wanted to make a meatball sub-style sandwich and revisiting this Friends episode reminded me that our previous attempts, while commendable and tasty, just weren’t quite blog-worthy yet. I knew we were close to something great; we just needed a little something extra…

So I consulted one of my new Jamie Oliver cookbooks and found the answer – our meatballs needed to be a mixture of beef AND pork. Another burst of inspiration had us tossing in some sautéed green peppers for another layer of flavour and with a side of Crunch Veggie Salad, we’d finally done it – our Mmmmozzarella Meatball Sub was ready to meet the world.

Mmmozzeralla Meatball Subs

You will need:

Ground Pork

Ground Beef – I’d recommend getting lean ground beef since ground pork is usually higher in fat content

Bread crumbs – we used our immersion blender to crumb-ify half a dried baguette; worked great

One egg

Minced garlic or garlic powder – we didn’t measure specifically but it looked to be around ½ - 1 Tbsp

Minced rosemary – around 1 tsp-ish

Fresh baguettes or sub-style loaves, 1-2 depending on how many sandwiches you want to make

Mozzarella cheese, torn into chunks

A jar of your favorite tomato-based pasta sauce – after experimenting in our previous attempts, we recommend one with a bit of a spicy kick, like our favorite Arrabbiata sauce from Barilla

One green pepper, sliced and sautéed

Process:

1-Combine the pork and beef in a big bowl and use your (clean) hands to mix it all together.

2-Add the egg and bread crumbs and keep mixing until the meat sticks together but isn’t too wet; add more crumbs to achieve this and add the spices.

Meatball process

3-Shape the meat into balls; try to make them the same size so they cook evenly.

4-Place the meatballs into an oiled pan and bake in the oven until they’re cooked all the way through. (You will probably have to sacrifice one to check, but you can still use it in your sandwich.)

Watching and waiting for meatball goodness

4.5-Make the Crunchy Veggie Salad:

            -Chop and combine red and yellow peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, celery and crumbled goat/feta cheese in a bowl

            -Mix olive oil, cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar and oregano and pour over salad 

(Tip: If you make a big batch and know it will all get eaten, pour it over everything. But if you plan to eat this salad with a few meals, only pour the dressing over your individual serving to avoid it turning into a soggy mess.)

Crunchy Veggie Salad

5-Cut the baguette in half, length-wise and fill with meatballs and green peppers.

6-Pour pasta sauce on the meatballs and top with chunks of mozzarella.

7-Bake or broil the sandwiches in the oven, around 3-5 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the bread is golden.

8-Serve with a side of Crunchy Veggie Salad.

Mmm!

Definitely one of the most photogenic sandwich creations we’ve made.

The pork and beef combo work so well together, I can’t believe it took us this long to figure it out. One fun variation to try is to stuff the meatballs with mozzarella before you bake them. This makes for some oozy, cheesy meatballs, if that’s your thing. I could go either way on this, but the pork and beef togetherness are a must.

Meatballs are actually quite easy to make and there are so many recipes out there to experiment with, so don’t be afraid to roll up your sleeves and get in there.

Here are some meatball recipes to get you started – have fun! 

http://www.food.com/recipe/authentic-italian-meatballs-92095

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/meatballs-and-pasta/

http://www.citrusandspice.ca/pitas-with-lamb-goat-cheese-and-rosemary-meatballs/

Joey would certainly approve.

A Stack of Waffle Grilled Cheese

University: a place of discovery and learning.

It was during my first year that I discovered I hated living in res and I learned how to live away from home.

Other poignant discoveries were that I liked coffee (thank you and miss you, Java Jive!), that the U of A campus in fall is one of the most beautiful places in Edmonton, that the stairwells of the Fine Arts Building are a great place to meet people and rehearse directing projects, and that walking into the Engineering building with your Complete Works of Shakespeare will get you a lot of funny looks.

And I learned to love that campus and my time there like no other time and place.

This sandwich is one of my proudest student achievements.

Being a university student also forced me to learn how to cook for myself. It wasn’t ever fancy or all that pretty but I learned because I had to and because there was only so much Subway or Edo that I could stomach. By the time I earned both my degrees, I had also graduated from Kraft Dinner and had moved on to other meals. But the one student meal I love to bring back from time to time is the Waffle Grilled Cheese. 

I wish I could say this sandwich was born from a great stroke of culinary inspiration but it was the stack of dirty dishes marinating in the sink that forced me to find another way to make a midnight study snack. It was out of desperation, and I’d like to think a subconscious sense of courtesy towards the upstairs neighbors that I wasn’t about to tackle the dishes at that hour, that I turned to the waffle iron I got for Christmas.

That silent, reliable, quick-heating waffle iron then became one of the best gifts I had ever received. In the student days - and in some of the first-year-teacher days - I used it more for grilled cheese than for waffles. It always saved on dishes and time and it got the job done with only a little mess. Plus, the waffle ridges are perfect for holding lots and lots of ketchup, salsa or hot sauce.

About to become golden and waffle grilled.

Like any good student meal, the required ingredients are minimal (Got bread? Got cheese? Got power? Go!), but for this post-grad version, I added some bonus ingredients to tackle that other great student meal – breakfast for dinner!

You will need:

-A sturdy waffle iron

-Sandwich bread, any kind

-Mozzarella cheese

-Cheddar Cheese

-Eggs, fried sunny-side up with the yokes medium done

-Sausage patties

-Ketchup or your choice or condiment

The sizzling means it's working.

The Process:

1-Plug in the waffle iron and let it heat up.

2-While it’s heating, fry the sausage patties and the eggs.

3-Slice the cheese and arrange on the bread slices.

4-Once the eggs and sausages are cooked, layer them on top of the cheese on one slice of bread.

5-Top of the sandwiches with more cheese and the other bread slices.

6-Carefully place the sandwiches in the waffle iron and close it up as best you can.

7-As the sandwiches grill, press the waffle iron down gently to compress them more compactly.

8-Let grill until the waffle ridges are golden and the insides are melted.

9-Remove from heat, slice and serve with your favorite topping.

Definitely one of the quickest and easiest grilled cheeses I’ve made, but the real fun is in the presentation. Stacked up on each other, they resemble an ordinary pile of glistening waffles, fresh from the grill, just waiting to be drowned in butter and syrup. But these are special waffles stuffed with spicy sausages and smothered in gooey, melted cheese. Try adding your favorite spices to the eggs for a little something extra and swap out the syrup for a hearty drizzling of ketchup. Eat it with a knife and fork or get greasy with your hands, in true grilled cheese style.

I traded-in the student-poverty and exam angst when I finished degree #2 in 2009 and finally moved above ground. To quote the teacher that I've now become, "the learning never ends" and although I’ve moved on in so many ways, that waffle iron has always come with me. Even now when I own a small sandwich grill, it’s still fun to haul it out for some Waffle Grilled Cheese so I can appreciate where I was and how much I still discover and learn each day.

Marghertia Pizza Grilled Cheese

I love pizza almost as much as I love sandwiches.

The combination of melted cheese, chewy crust and meaty toppings get me every time. Note that I said meaty toppings.  As a reformed picky-eater, I have come a long way in trying and liking many new foods but try as I may, I can’t quite seem to like vegetables on my pizza.

I know it’s weird. People swear I’m missing out on so much.  If I judged pizza on looks alone, I would be all for the beautifully topped Hawaiian or Vegetarian pizzas, but they just don’t do it for me taste-wise. Give me a classic pepperoni, or one topped with multiple kinds of meat (like ham, salami and bacon), a cold beer and a stack of napkins and I’m all set for pizza night.

Who knew Scotland would have the best Margherita pizza?

The one exception to my meat-only pizza preference is the Margherita Pizza.  It’s the simplest pizza out there: basic tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, fresh basil and sometimes chopped cherry or grape tomatoes. Nothing that fancy  but when it’s baked fresh on a thin crust, with the cheese hot and bubbling, mixed in with the invigorating scent of basil, Margherita Pizza has the power to trump my cherished pepperoni any day.

Week Two of National Grilled Cheese Month inspired me to forge a bond between two of my great loves - pizza and sandwiches – in trying out a Margherita Pizza Grilled Cheese. The result was molto bello!

As for any good pizza, use simple, sweet, fresh ingredients.

You will need:

Sourdough bread or Italian baguette

Slices of mozzarella cheese

A handful of grape tomatoes, sliced

2-3 medium leaves of fresh basil

Butter (Garlic butter would be excellent for this sandwich)

A skillet, lid and spatula

Spicy pizza oil for dipping

1-Spread the butter on the outsides of the bread.

2-Place the cheese slices, tomatoes and basil on the non-buttered side of one bread slice.

3-Cover with another layer of cheese (this ensures the sandwich and all the fillings will melt together). 

Layering the cheese is key for maximum melting.

4-Assemble the sandwich with the other piece of bread, buttered-side out.

5-Place the sandwich carefully in the middle of the skillet on medium heat.

6-Cover with a lid and let it grill 4-5 minutes (remember: low and slow) before carefully flipping it over. Try not to lose any tomatoes in the flipping process!

7-Press down on the sandwich with the spatula as the second side grills and the cheese begins to melt everything together.

8-Remove from heat, slice and serve with some spicy pizza oil for dipping.

Spicy pizza dipping oil and a herb garden view!

What I enjoyed most about turning one of my favorite pizzas into a sandwich was how each bite was a different surprise: a juicy mouthful of grilled tomato, a sweet nibble of basil leaf, slightly crunchy from the heat, or a warm bit of melted mozzarella. No ketchup for this sandwich; spicy pizza oil is the appropriate condiment for this pizza-turned grilled cheese creation.

Any kind of pizza would make a tantalizing grilled cheese incarnation, so I challenge you to forego the pizza delivery one night and get creative with the pizza-sandwich possibilities instead. Just as I was pleasantly surprised to find the best Margherita Pizza in Scotland, of all places, you may surprise yourself with what you create right at home.

Margherita Pizza Grilled Cheese

Pizza Postscript:

The best Margherita Pizza I’ve ever had was at Di Maggio’s, in Glasgow, Scotland.  Sit on the patio outside and admire the view of the Modern Art Gallery across the street while you eat.

My Top 3 Pizza Places in Edmonton are:

1-Millcreek Pizza – Just south of the Whitemud, this is a little gem of a neighborhood pizza place. Their menu has all the classics, plus some India-spirations, like Butter Chicken, Shahi Paneer and the Trucker (pepperoni, ham, salami, Italian sausage and jalapeños!). The pizza is exceptional and the service is lovely; we order from them so often, they recognize us and treat us like family.

2-Parkallen Restaurant – The Mediterranean and Lebanese cuisine of this place is hard to beat but the pizza is truly legendary.

3-Royal Pizza – I’ve included this place mostly for sentimental reasons as it’s where my husband and I had our first official date. We met halfway between our places at the Calgary Trail location and split a large pepperoni pizza. True love at first pizza slice!