The non-spherical version.
I hope I don’t offend anyone, but having meatballs in a sub just doesn’t make any sense to me – it is so uncomfortable to eat, and the meat inside is missing out on all the sauce. So instead, I suggest a slow-cooking dish full of sauce and flavor. You may also notice I served the sub with sauerkraut on the side, though I may be breaking tradition here as well
An important aspect, at least in my opinion, is not to have too much liquid causing the bun to be soggy. Therefore, the idea here is to let almost all the water in the sauce evaporate, leaving the minced meat with almost no discernible sauce – but with all the intense flavor of the sauce. Although I added lots of liquids at the start, you can see in the image below – almost no liquids remain when the sauce is ready.
In the recipe here, I use fresh tomatoes, but you can switch to canned ones to shorten your work and the cooking time. I prefer fresh tomatoes here but the difference isn’t great. The fresh tomatoes need to be peeled but don’t worry it is easier than you may think. Choose the ripest tomatoes you can find (but not spoiled of course).
To the sub, I chose to add fresh basil leaves with sauerkraut on the side, but feel free to add whatever vegetable you prefer, or none at all. Onions, fresh or fried, scallion or pickles are all great choices in my opinion.
Equipment
- Hand Blender
Ingredients
- 3 Buns, baguettes, or bread rolls
- 0.5 kg minced beef [1 lb]
- 1 onion (optional)
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped or crushed
- 5 ripe tomatoes
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 celery head (celeriac)
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3 slices cheese (Gauda, Gruyere or etc.)
- canola oil
Instructions
The Sauce
- Boil 1.5-2 liters [0.5 gallons] of water and pour into a large bowl.
- Cut a small X on the bottom side of the tomatoes.
- Place the tomatoes in the hot water for a few minutes.
- Take the tomatoes out, and after they cool a bit, peel them from the X marks. Cut the tomatoes into cubes.
- Cut the onion into small pieces.
- Peel clean and cut the celery root into quarters.
- In a pot sauté the onion in a bit of oil over low to medium heat, until it becomes translucent.
- Add the garlic and let it cook for a minute until its fragrance changes from spicy to sweet.
- Add the tomatoes, wine, celery root, and spices and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook for about an hour.
- Take out the celery root and discard it. Use a hand blender to pureé the sauce.
The Meat
- While the sauce is cooking, heat a pan and add a bit of canola oil.
- Add the minced beef and salt it.
- Use a spatula to break the minced beef into small parts and let it cook fully.
- Use a spoon to carefully remove water exuding from the beef.
Finish the dish
- Add the beef to the sauce and let it cook without a top on low heat, until almost all of the liquids have evaporated (check out the image above). It will take about an hour.
- Stir occasionally to prevent the sauce from burning, especially in the end when most of the liquids have evaporated.
- Place the beef in half a bun or bread roll, and cover with a slice or two of cheese.
- Place the open bun with the meat and cheese in an oven set to 180°c (360°F), until the cheese melts (around 10 mins).
- Serve with mayonnaise and whichever vegetables you like to add to the sub – onions, scallions, basil leaves, or even sauerkraut.
