Meatball Sammies

We bought some Aidell's Chicken Meatballs a while back in a Costco-sized package. They have great meatballs  - and sausages, too, but that is a different post - and while they are super in spaghetti, there is only so many noodles one can eat. What else can you do with meatballs? Thanks to a Subway commercial I was inspired to make a meatball sub. But I find meatball subs to be very messy, so I tried to figure out what I could do to make them, well, cleaner. I bought a nice sized loaf of French bread and cut off both ends about 4 inches in. I ripped out the soft bread inside the ends to make a type of bowl. I browned the meatballs then added some tomato sauce. Preprepared tomato sauce is great, but it can sometimes be bland. I added some pepper, salt, crushed red pepper, oregano, and thyme, and allowed the meatballs to warm up some more in the sauce. While they simmered, I stuck the bread in the toaster oven to heat it up. Before it started to brown, I took it out and rubbed a clove of garlic on the inside to give it some extra flavor. I sprinkled some shredded mozzarella cheese inside the bread, then stuffed in 4 meatballs and some sauce - just enough to fill the bread but not too much that it all falls out when you pick it up. I sprinkled some more cheese on top, let it sit 30 seconds to melt, and served with a smile. They were so good, I bought another loaf two days later and made it again. This time the bread was fresh-made garlic and rosemary from our local Sunday farmer's market. I added some sliced olives, too, and it was even better the second time.

What's great about this sandwich is that you can make it a million ways. Change the bread to sourdough or something else flavored. Change the cheese to provolone or feta. Change the sauce to vodka or marinara. Add some peppers, onions, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, or whatever is in your pantry. Even the meatballs come in different flavors, like Buffalo and Teriyaki Pineapple.