When I know I have a busy week coming up, I try to think of quick dinners I can make during the week. If I can make a huge batch of something on Sunday and just reheat the meal on a weekday, even better. So this weekend, after a visit to the Italian Market, I decided to make a bunch of meatballs so that we could have meatball subs later in the week. The tomato sauce is basically a more chunky version of my normal tomato sauce. I also added sausages to the sauce so that we could also make Sausage and Pepper Sandwiches if we so choose. The best part is that you can make a huge portion of this, freeze it, and use when needed. The sauce, although heavy on the meat, would also work as a yummy pasta sauce.
Ingredients (serves 8; with added sausage, serves 12):
- 2 lbs ground sirloin
- 1 lb sweet Italian sausage, cut from its casing
- 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons dried basil, divided
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley, divided
- 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1.5 lbs sausage (optional)
- 1 can (28 oz) strained tomatoes (or 1 box of Pomi strained tomatoes)
- 2 cans (28 oz) chopped tomatoes (or 2 boxes of Pomi chopped tomatoes)
- 1/3 cup dry red wine
- 8-12 Italian rolls/subs
- Provolone cheese, optional