Chicken Parm Subs

Happy Monday! Nah, who am I kidding—when is Monday ever good? The Fish had a job interview today though, so at least that was a good thing on this Monday!


Recipe Roundup from the weekend:

Friday, I made Rachael Ray’s Chicken Parm Subs. Mmmmm, good! She gets on my nerves sometimes, but there are a few of her recipes I really enjoy (like Steakhouse Shepherd’s Pie.) My kind of recipe, quick and easy. I made the meatballs, stuck them in the convection/toaster oven to bake (so as to not heat up the house—I have a Cuisinart large convection toaster oven that I adore—I comes in handy when cooking for the two or three of us) and put the sauce on the simmer. We walked the dogs, and I finished off the subs with cheese under the broiler.  Definitely hanging on to this one!

Here’s the recipe!

Chicken Parm Meatball Subs
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds ground chicken (I had a lb, I made 16 meatballs)
1 tablespoon grill seasoning blend
1 large egg
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (I used half this and half shredded mozz)
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
Handful of chopped parsley leaves (omitted)
Extra-virgin olive oil, for liberal drizzling plus, plus 3 tablespoons, 3 turns of the pan
2 large cloves garlic, cracked from skin and split
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, a healthy couple of pinches
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 cup chicken stock
Salt
Pepper
8 to 10 leaves fresh basil, torn or shredded (I used dried Italian Seasoning)
4 (6 to 8-inch) crusty sub rolls
1 1/2 cups shredded provolone (I used mozz)
* I also added additional seasonings into the meatballs, garlic powder, onion powder and Italian Seasonings. To the sauce I added more red pepper (we like spicy) and additional seasonings (such as a pinch of parm and sugar) to taste.

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Place chicken in a bowl and season with grill seasoning. Add egg, half of the grated cheese, bread crumbs, parsley, and a serious drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil to the bowl. Mix the meat and form 12 large meatballs. Squish the balls to flatten them a bit like mini oval meatloaves. Be careful not to form the balls wider than your bread. The flattened balls will stay put on your sub, no roll-aways! Bake the meatballs 15 minutes until golden and firm. Switch the broiler on.
While the meatballs bake, heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and garlic and cook 5 minutes then remove the cloves. Add crushed red pepper flakes then tomatoes and stir in the chicken stock. Season the sauce with salt and pepper and simmer 10 minutes, adjust seasonings and stir in the basil. Reserve a extra sauce for dipping on dinner table.

Remove the meat from oven and loosen with a thin spatula. Turn meat balls in sauce.

Cut sub rolls making the bottom a little deeper than the top. Hollow out a little bread and lightly toast the sub rolls under broiler. Fill the bottoms of the breads with flattened balls and sauce. Combine the provolone and remaining Parmigiano. Cover the subs with cheese and return to broiler to melt the cheese until golden.