Being the real sandwich fanatic that I am, making hearty packed sammies is something that just makes my big toe curl on that very first bite. I just instantly drool at the sight of any photo of a sandwich busting out sloppily with meat, cheese, peppers and oozing with some sauce out of a 6-inch sub. Although I also like those gourmet sandwiches that look so good for your body, I cannot help myself from beaming over a big greasy sandwich with the word GUILTY written all over it.
For some reason, Philadelphia seems to be the birth place of some heavy weight sandwich contenders. Philly is known for its moist, soft and chewy pretzels and their Italian sandwiches. Okay, I know they don’t sound quite American as pretzels are German and Italian sandwiches are… well … you know that. I won’t go through Philly’s history but in a nutshell, it all dates back to the 1700’s when there was a strong influence of German and Italian traditions in this state. Nowhere else in the US can you find real sandwich comfort food! Their streets are home to kiosks of pretzels, hoagies and cheese steak sandwich fare.
I focused on the Philly Cheese steak just a few articles back, and this time, let me tell you about its other meaty greasy cousin, The Hoagie!
A Philly Hoagie is a traditional Italian lengthwise roll sliced in half and lightly drizzled with olive oil, some shredded lettuce, onions, tomatoes, cheese and your choice of sandwich meats. The whole ensemble is seasoned with a dash of oregano, basil, salt and pepper. There are other variations of hoagies and one popular choice is the Zep. It’s made with a round Italian roll with just one sandwich meat, provolone cheese, raw onions, tomatoes and hot pepper relish dressed with oregano, salt, pepper and olive oil.
So tell me, doesn’t that just make you want to dive into all that seriously meaty goodness? It’s ballgame season and there’s nothing better to serve that hungry bunch of fanatics glued to the teevo other than this Philly Hoagie recipe I’d like to share with you!
Hearty Meatball Hoagie
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup marinara sauce
Grilled sweet peppers
3 hoagie rolls, split lengthwise
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). `
- In a bowl, mix together the ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, salt and pepper, garlic powder, and half of the mozzarella cheese. Form the mixture into balls, and place it into an 8×8 inch baking dish.
- Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the centre is no longer pink. Let the meatballs stand for 5 minutes, then slice them halves. Place halves to fill each hoagie roll, spoon generous amount of marinara sauce, and add sweet peppers. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese over.
- Wrap each hoagie roll with foil, and return to the oven for 15 minutes, until bread is lightly toasted and cheese is melted. Season with oregano, basil and some salt and pepper.
Photo Credit: sugar-bliss gnome
Photo Credit: joshmattbrown
Photo Credit: Bob B Brown