Hot off the presses (or, more accurately, from the oven), I bring you a brand-new recipe: vegetarian meatball subs!
This is a great meal to make when you’re short on time but big on hunger. I had exactly 30 minutes to get dinner prepared tonight – LeeLee had a meeting and I had errands to run – and truth be told, I could’ve had this ready in 20. But the extra 10 minutes helped make things a little less harried in the kitchen, so I’ll take it.
First, I prepared the meatballs, shaping 12 of them from a tube of Lightlife “beef.” I placed them on a baking sheet and baked them at 350 for 10 minutes before adding a sheet of tater tots to the mix and upping the temperature to 425 for another 10. Then I removed the meatballs, placed some foil over them to keep them warm, and continued baking the tater tots for another 10!
As the beef and potatoes cooked, I heated up a small jar of pizza sauce (tonight’s was left over from Sunday’s grilled pizza!) on the stove and kept it simmering on Low. Then, when everything was nearly ready, I popped two steak rolls into the oven and toasted them at 425 for 5 minutes. After that, it was assembly time!
We each added a layer of Vegenaise to our rolls and then each placed four meatballs on the bottom slice of bread. We then topped the meatballs with pizza sauce and Daiya mozzarella, set the top slice onto the sub, and added some tater tots on the side. The mozzarella melted on contact with the hot sauce, and dinner was ready.
The results were fantastic! We both loved the subs – they were filling but didn’t make us feel overstuffed, and they tasted great. Baking the meatballs kept them from being as oily as they would’ve been in a sauté pan, which is a bonus when it comes to putting them on sandwiches. In all, it was a great-tasting meal that took no time at all to prepare. And we have leftovers for tomorrow! What could be better?
VEGETARIAN MEATBALL SUBS
Serves two
What you’ll need:
1 tube of vegetarian beef (we used Lightlife)
1 jar pizza sauce
2 steak rolls
1 package of mozzarella cheese (we used Daiya tonight)
First, divide up your beef into 12 pieces, shaping each one into a meatball. Place them on a baking sheet and put the sheet in the oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Check on them; if they look like they need a little more time, leave them in for another five minutes.
While the meatballs bake, warm up a jar of pizza sauce in a saucepan on the stovetop at medium heat. Once the sauce has heated through, turn the heat to Low and let the sauce simmer until dinnertime.
When the meatballs are nearly finished, place your steak rolls, separated, into the oven and bake for five minutes. They should be nicely crispy and slightly brown by the end of the cooking time.
Finally, it’s time to assemble your sub! Take the steak rolls out of the oven and add any condiments you like (we like a thin layer of Vegenaise). Next, place four (or more or less) meatballs on the bottom part of the roll, topping it with several spoonfuls of sauce. Add a generous helping of mozzarella atop the sauce and meatballs, and place the other half of the roll on top.
Dig in and enjoy!
:)