I was a frat boy in a past life, for sure. I have absolutely no doubt about this. A competitive spirit bolsters the bygone seasons of unrivaled beer pong tournaments, milk guzzling acrobatics and wet teeshirt contests. Crusted on blue face paint blemish the days procured from a forgetful hazy IPA daze. No, you’re right, it was Miller Light.
Tombs of kegerator corpses and aluminum cans lay crushed in a landscaped lawn blanket. Shirtless bros with unfit midsections, bellow across the quad like tarzan-esque, macho misfits, roaring with pride and lacking the neural synapses for embarrassment or dumbassery.
The good ol’ days. When time was but a concept in another space emporium.
Noses seemed to be immune the smog of beer spillage and spoilage.
Heads never ached from the inhalation of second hand vapors. And hangovers? Well, they were just a way to start the day, followed ever so cooly by hair of the nearest dog. What the hell, it was noon anyway.
Ears weren’t angered by blaring techno music and mating calls in the bed three feet from you.
Eyes only cried at the thought of summer approaching, when you would be miles away from your gaggle of like-minded-morons.
And mouths…Mouths were just as happy at 4am to eat hotdogs or meatballs or anything spicy and Mexican.
Sigma Alpha Mu, that was us. Or as these meatballs hoagies would say, sigma alpha mooo.
Feeds you and 2 of your bros; Takes about 2 hrs
Ingredients and Method for the Tomato Sauce
- 2, 16oz cans of Cento whole tomatoes
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- Big handful of basil (leaves & stems)
- 5 cloves garlic, smashed
- 3 dried bay leaves
- 2 glugs of good olive oil
- 3 tbsp honey
- Salt
Put all ingredients (except salt and olive oil) in a sauce pot and bring to a boil. Turn down to low heat and cook for 1 hr. Taste and add salt as needed and oil.
After the hour, remove the basil stems and bay leaves and blend the sauce for a homogenous consistency. – You might have already made my All Day Marinara, which would be really good here too:)
Ingredients for the Sandwich
- 1lb of 80/20 ground beef
- 3/4lb of ground pork
- 3 hoagie rolls, pillowy, inner bread removed
- The tomato sauce you are making (see above)
- 1 tbsp ground garlic
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 panko bread crumbs
- 1 egg yolk
- Big handful of basil leaves, roughly chopped
- Small handful of parsley, roughly chopped, divided
- 2 glugs of good olive oil
- 6-8 thick slices of whole milk mozzarella
- Salt (about 1 1/2 tbsp) and black pepper (2 tsp)
- 4 tbsp canola oil
Method
In a bowl, combine the beef, pork, garlic, oregano, yolk, panko, olive oil, basil, half of the parsley and salt & pepper.
Mix until everything is just incorporated (you don’t want to over mix because it can toughen the meat) and then roll gently into large balls ~ 6.
In a hot frying pan, sear the outside of the meatballs in canola, until golden. (Meatballs obviously don’t have sides, but you wanna try to get a nice color on most of the ball). This should take about 6-8 min, without cooking the meat all the way through.
Once bronze and beautiful, place all the balls in a large lipped pan of the tomato sauce and simmer on medium low heat for 45 min.
Place 2 balls on the inside of each hoagie roll and top with a slice of mozz. Broil for 1 min, until bubbly. Top with more sauce and garnish with remaining parsley.
Need more sandwiches? I got you:
- Corned Beef Sammy’s with Russian Dressing and Quick Kraut
- Ultimate Fried Chicken Sandwich with Heirloom Carrot Slaw
- The Italian’s Italian Sub
- Not a Philly Cheesesteak
