Chicken Meatball Subs

This recipe says it'll make about 4, but I had 5 people to serve so I doubled the recipe and probably didn't have to. These could easily be frozen and used later as meatballs. Altogether it was pretty good--I decided I don't so much like meatball subs because of the calorie count, but the chicken meatballs by themselves were delicious and I'd probably make them again. I made these a while ago--probably over a month ago--so you can see I'm a little behind on posting these recipes! They cooked up very easily although it was a time consuming project. I served these subs with some cajun fries which I'll post the recipe for soon.

Chicken Meatball Sub Sandwiches
Recipe adapted from BevCooks

1 pound ground chicken
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups baby spinach, finely chopped (it’s 2 cups BEFORE the chopping)
1 Tbs. tomato paste (obviously that’s not a full Tbs. up there. I ran out.)
1 egg
3/4 cup panko (or breadcrumbs)
2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 (28 oz) can San Marzano tomatoes, pureed in a food processor
6 basil leaves, roughly torn
1/4 cup parsley, roughly chopped
1 loaf bread (ie ciabatta, french rolls..), cut into 4 equal sizes and sliced lengthwise
4 slices provolone cheese
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

In a bowl, combine the chicken, onion, garlic, spinach, tomato paste, panko, egg and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Using your hands, get everything all combined. Then form little balls out of the mixture.

At this point you can stick them in the fridge, covered for as long as you need to. Or if you’re famished, let’s proceed.

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium high. Add the meatballs and brown all over, about 8 minutes total.

Pour the pureed tomatoes over the meatballs, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 40 minutes, cooking the meatballs all the way through. The sauce will reduce just a tad as well. At the very end, toss in the torn basil and parsley. Go ahead and season with a pinch of salt and pepper too.

Flip on the broiler and slide the bread in for about a minute. Then place 4 balls with the marinara on the bottom half, followed by a slice of provolone cheese. Stick back under the broiler until the cheese melts and starts to bubble, maybe 2 minutes. Keep an eye on it!

Serve with more basil, if desired.