Homemade meatballs are a right of passage in an Italian family. My mother-in-law taught me how to make my own. Her recipe is a full meat sauce, so when I’m craving meatballs during the week, I take a shortcut and make them in my slow cooker. It’s not a quick meal, but it’s easy, with few ingredients and the meatballs can make several meals if you make more, like I do.
Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1 large egg
⅓ C breadcrumbs
¼ C Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 C marinara sauce
8 mini hoagie rolls
12 slices asiago cheese
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare a baking pan with non-stick spray.
In a bowl, add the ground beef, egg, breadcrumbs, garlic, parmesan cheese and parsley.
With your hands, work the ingredients together.
Add salt and pepper.
With the ice cream scoop, begin to form your meatballs.
Set them aside.
Add the oil to the skillet, heating it over medium heat.
Add one meatball at a time to the heated pan.
Cook for about 5 minutes or until seared on all sides.
Place the meatballs in the oven on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 12 minutes.
Remove from oven and set aside.
Cut out an oval on top of the roll, leaving about ½ inch on the ends and sides.
Dig in but do not cut all the way to the bottom half of the roll.
Use a knife to hollow out the top of the roll.
Place the roll on the baking sheet.
Place a slice of cheese in the hollowed out area.
Return to the oven and bake for 8 minutes.
Add 2 tablespoons of marinara to the cheese.
Place 3 meatballs on top of the cheese.
Add marinara on top of the meatballs.
Place grated Parmesan cheese on top of marinara.
Return to oven and bake for 6 to 8 minutes.
