Hot or Not Hot Italian Meatball Sandwiches

Everyone loves these zippy, oversized sandwiches. If you like spicy, add the roasted banana peppers to the sauce just before serving or play it safe and serve the peeled, chopped peppers on the side. I like to serve these on ciabatta bread but kaiser rolls work great too. These are fairly easy to make and taste soooo good!

• Ready In: 6 hrs 20 mins
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• Meatballs

• 1  lb lean ground beef
• 1⁄4 cup onion, minced
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 2  tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
• 2  tablespoons parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• 1⁄2 cup  breadcrumbs
• 1  tablespoon  vegetable oil

• Tomato Sauce

• 1  onion, finely chopped
• 2  stalks celery, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 2  teaspoons dried oregano leaves
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
• 6  whole cloves or 1⁄8 teaspoon clove, ground
• 1 (28 ounce) can tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 1⁄3 cup dry red wine
• 2 -4  banana peppers, roasted, peeled & cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 4 -6  kaiser rolls, halved or 4 -6  ciabatta
•  parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine ingredients for meatballs, except for oil, and mix well. Form into 8 balls of uniform size.
2. In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add Meatballs, in batches, if necessary, and brown on all sides. Transfer to a slow cooker. Drain off all but 1 tbsp fat from pan. If you used extra-lean meat, you may have to add oil to reach 1 tablespoons
3. In the meantime, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roast the peeled and sliced banana peppers on a baking sheet, turning two or three times until the skin on all sides is blackened. This takes about 25 minutes.
4. To make Tomato Sauce: Reduce heat to medium. Add onions and celery to pan and cook, stirring, until softened. Add garlic, oregano, salt, pepper and cloves and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and wine, bring to a boil and cook, stirring until mixture is reduced by 1/3rd, depending upon the size of your pan, about 5 minutes. Pour over meatballs, cover and cook on Low for 6-8 hours or on High for 3-4 hours, until meatballs are no longer pink inside.
5. Place 1 to 2 meatballs on one half of kaiser bun or ciabatta bread, spoon additional sauce over all and top with the other half of the bun. Serve with a small bowl containing the roasted banana peppers and another containing grated Parmesan Cheese. Allow people to garnish to taste. You may need a knife and fork!