Meatball Boats
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.