Meatball Parmesan Grinder
These iconic pizza-meets-grinder bombs are a staple of the sub world. A fantastic tomato sauce plus your featured protein and melted mozzarella is a no brainer! the meatballs can be made very quickly with a simple seasoned meat, or you can make it meatloaf style with the optional ingredients. The rolls, sauce, and feature ingredient should all be prepared separately and assembled just before eating. Once assembled, layer the mozzarella on top and stick the whole thing under the broiler or into the oven until perfectly meltified.
Ingredients
Grinders
- 1 batch Italian Rolls . See below or Click here for recipe.
Meatballs
- 1/2 pound ground beef
- 1/2 pound ground pork
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 36 cranks on the old pepper grinder
(Optional) - 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- 2 ounces milk or water
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, pecorino or romano
- Fresh herbs – Parsley, thyme, oregano
- fresh grated nutmeg
Tomato Sauce
- 4 ounces tomato paste
- 5–6 crushed cherry tomatoes or half a medium fresh tomato crushed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 15.2 cranks on the old pepper mill
- 1–2 cloves of minced garlic
- Tiny pinch of oregano, and thyme
Instructions
Meatballs
- Mix ingredients
- roll into balls
- bake at 350° until internal temp is 160°, or less if you trust your meat is very fresh and clean. I typically go to about 140 °
Tomato Sauce
There are innumerable ways to make red sauce and this is a simple way to an incredible sauce in just a few minutes that works particularly well on a sub. The key element is that it mustn’t be too wet, or things will get soggy and ooze out while you try to eat. Simmer this sauce for 5-10 minutes depending on how sharp or sweet you like your garlic flavor. The longer garlic cooks the sweeter it gets.
Italian Rolls
This type of roll was popularized by Italian American immigrants, who filled them with Italian-style cured meats, cheese and pickled vegetable antipasti (like giardinera). The original “Italian” sub inspired many variations that are now famous in their own right, like the Philly Cheesesteak (see recipe below!) and the Meatball Parmesan Grinder (click here for recipe). These rolls contain just enough oil and sugar to make the crust thinner and softer than a baguette or other “straight’ dough (dough without sugar or oil), but not as soft as a hamburger bun or sandwich loaf. They freeze well, so go ahead and make big batch to keep on hand for when you need a quick sandwich fix.
- Yield: 6 8-inch rolls 1x
Ingredients
- 21 ounces bread flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 2 tsp honey
- 2 cups water (95-100° F)
- 2 ounces butter or vegetable oil
Instructions
- Combine wet and dry ingredients to form a medium hydration dough. Dough temperature should be about 90°.
- Fold every 30 minutes until the dough is doubled in size and develops good strength (2-4 times). Drier dough need less folding. Never force your dough to fold. If it’s tight and tearing when you go to fold it, just let it rest. If it’s slack and loose, fold it extra thoroughly. Either way, make sure it doubles in size (about 2 hours).
- Once doubled, cut into about six 7-to-8-ounce portions. flatten and roll into 8-inch logs. place on a lined baking tray, dust with flour, and cover with plastic.
- Allow to rise until more than doubled in size. When fully risen, rolls should not spring back when poked.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees for at least 30 minutes prior to baking.
- Slash down the center of the roll to allow for expansion, and load into the oven. Before shutting the door, pour 3 ounces of water onto the bottom of your oven to create steam steam. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until they are lightly browned and the center temperature reaches 200.
- Cool on a wire rack, then slice lengthwise to fill with your favorite sub fixings.
- Category: rolls
- Cuisine: Italian