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My goodness, these Italian grinders were good. They’re so easy to make. The key is the tasty homemade marinara sauce. And fresh mozzarella. And crunchy bread. Ok, it’s all good. The same approach works great substituting meatballs for the ground meats, but we really liked them the way they were. After browning the meats I pulsed them a few times in a food processor to get a great fine texture. Not overly processed. Don’t go crazy on it.
I like a little contrast been the tasty meat mixture and my sandwich bun. That means I get it toasted. Maybe even bit charred. That’s ok. I want some texture. Did I go a bit far this time? Did my bread spend too much time under the broiler? Yeah. Maybe by about 3 seconds. Four, tops. LOL. Four tops… Nevermind, I made myself laugh. Next time I’ll go with a little less toasting time.
Get Sloppy
These Italian grinders reminded me a bit of the Sloppy Joes I remember from my childhood, only done Italian style, and well, quite a bit tastier. I wouldn’t be afraid to add a few pepperoncini to them either. Or some giardiniera. But that’d make them fancy and that’s not what these are.
These things aren’t complicated. They’re meant to be cooked easily, made easily, and devoured quickly. They’ll fill you up and warm you up. That’s their jobs. They aren’t fancy fru-fru and they aren’t meant to be. Think of them as working sandwich. They do their jobs. That’s it.
I like to use my good ole trusty Dutch oven to make the meat mixture. It’s nice and big and sturdy. That extra weight helps it maintain and distribute heat perfectly. As an added bonus, it’s actually pretty easy to clean up too!
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Also check out my Italian hoagies.
Italian Grinders
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound Italian sausage ground, sweet
- kosher salt
- ground black pepper
- 1 ½ cups marinara sauce I used our slow cooker version
- 4 sub rolls sliced 3/4th of the way through horizontally
- 1 pound mozzarella sliced thin
Instructions
- Brown beef and sausage while crumbling in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Get the chunks as little or as big as you want. Drain well.
- Season with salt and pepper as desired. (I like to pulse the meats in a food processor a few times to get a nice consistent texture with no clumps)
- Meanwhile, warm the marinara sauce in a small saucepan.
- Spoon about 1 cup of meat into each roll.
- Top meat with about 1/3 cup of marinara sauce.
- Top sandwiches with a few slices of cheese.
- Transfer sandwiches to sheet pans and place under the broiler until cheese is melted and rolls start to brown.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate.
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