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The meat sauce in this stromboli sandwich is absolutely fantastic. It will be my go-to meat sauce from this day forward. I’ll use it for everything from lasagna, to spaghetti, and of course, more stromboli sandwiches. Nice and thick, but not too thick, it is packed with Italian-inspired flavors. Man, oh man, am I ever having flashbacks to the last stromboli I made with it. I just could not get enough! Each and every bite was oooooooh so very good!
The Perfect Sauce
Next time I make a batch of the sauce, I’ll probably quadruple it and store the leftovers in the freezer. A quick defrost, some cooked pasta, and I have a great main dish done in no time. You can also make this meatless and you’ll have the perfect sausage for grilled sausage sandwiches or serve it up with warmed meatballs over pasta or on French bread for a meatball sandwich.
I highly recommend that you shred or grate your own cheese at home. Don’t buy the pre-shredded or pre-grated stuff. It has stuff added to it to keep it from sticking together. That ‘stuff’ affects how the cheese melts. Shred it yourself and use the good stuff.
Also try my stromboli and easy sausage stromboli recipes.
Stromboli Sandwich
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef or substitute Italian sausage
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 8 ounces mushrooms small, sliced thin
- 1 medium green bell pepper chopped
- 1 15 ounce tomato sauce
- 1 cup condensed tomato soup
- ยผ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 12 ounce tomato paste
- ยผ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Vienna bread
- Mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- In a large skillet, crumble the beef and brown along with the onion. Drain any excess fat.
- Add the mushrooms and bell pepper and cook for 3-5 minutes or until they are just starting to get soft.
- Add the tomato sauce, tomato soup, garlic powder, dried oregano, chili powder, tomato paste and black pepper.
- Stir and reduce heat to a simmer and simmer for at least 10 minutes, the longer the more the flavors will meld. If the sauce gets too thick add a bit of water.
- Cut bread in half lengthwise and scoop out as much of the bread as you can.
- Transfer bread to a sheet of aluminum foil.
- Fill insides with the meat mixture.
- Top with cheese and cover in foil.
- Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes until the cheese is melted.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate.
I use a combo of sweet Italian pork sausage and ground beef with ground lamb. I also created a very exquisite sauce made with home made Italian dressing, tomato paste, beef base and crushed garlic, diced onions and diced bell peppers. I always like to braise my meats in the crockpot for 6 hours. After I strain off most of the fat, I stir in the thick sauce and let it sit on warm for a few hours. I use a combo of mozzarella, parmesan and even smoked Gouda cheese. I feast on those for days at a time!
Wow that sounds amazing. I really like the sound of the sauce you are making. Care to share the amounts?
Thanks and regards,
Mike