So, you know I like to make soup. And you know I’m a fan of meatball subs (& meatball clubs! Join the meatball club). I made my version of wedding soup recently, and it was pretty good. I remarked it’d be good to have a meatball sub with those flavors, and everyone in the family seemed to agree. So, here we are.

Yinz wanna jump to the recipe?

Lots of other people have done this and there are certainly other recipes out there, but as always I did my own take here. I get real tired real quick on foodie gatekeeping about the “right” way to do stuff, as it recipes and ingredients haven’t always changed across generations, borders, & families.

I had what I wanted to do and a taste I was going for in my head, and it definitely hit the mark. My son tasted a meatball before we made a sandwich and he said the meatball tasted exactly like wedding soup. I’ll take that!

I ended up making a broth on the side to kind of have like a a French Dip sandwich. Google says it’s a Brodo di Bollito. I took the bun that I messed up, but it still looks pretty good. I’ll try to make the recipe concise below. I just kind of throw stuff together, don’t measure, and hope it works.

How would you do yours? I present this as a guide and a reminder for myself the next time I make these. I encourage you to make it your own. Here’s what I did, I’ll try to present it as a recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs. ground beef
• 1 lb. ground chicken
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. milk, splash
• ⅓ cup plain breadcrumbs
• ⅓ cup panko breadcrumbs
• ½ cup grated Parmesan (for meatballs)
• ⅓ box (1 lb.) acini di pepe
• 1 cup matchstick carrots, finely chopped
• 1½ celery stalks w/ leaves, finely chopped
• ½ Spanish onion, finely chopped
• 4 Tbsp. butter (for sautéing mirepoix & wilting spinach)
• Dash of extra virgin olive oil, for sautéing mirepoix
• Seasonings! (To taste, throughout.)
  • onion powder
  • garlic powder
  • black pepper
  • Dash table blend
  • paprika
  • dried parsley
  • Italian seasoning
  • rotisserie chicken seasoning
  • poultry seasoning
• 3 tsp. jarred minced garlic (I know, I know, the internet hates this. Use fresh then.)
• 1 (32 Oz.) box chicken stock
• 1 (32 Oz.) box chicken broth
• 1 beef bouillon cube
• 1 cup whole-milk ricotta
• 4 cups fresh spinach
• 4 hard rolls, split on top
• 1 cup fontina, freshly shredded
• ½ cup fancy shredded Parmesan, for topping

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
2. In a soup pot, sauté the Carrots, celery, & onion in some butter & a splash of olive oil, with the jarred minced garlic. Season with a bit of the herb/spices to taste, add minced garlic after the stuff cooks a bit.
3. Take out maybe ½ to ¾ cup of the mirepoix and set aside to cool.
4. Add the chicken stock and beef bouillon cube to the pot with the remaining mirepoix, and bring it to a boil.
5. Add the acini di pepe, cook about 9 minutes per the box, just shy of tender — you want it barely cooked, not swollen.
6. Set aside about ½ to ¾ cup of the acini di pepe to cool.
7. Put the stock on a warmer or a low simmer.
8. Mix the meatballs! Combine ground beef, ground chicken, 2 large eggs, 2 tablespoons milk, plain & panko breadcrumbs, 0.5 cups grated Parmesan. Gently fold in the cooled mirepoix/acini di pepe mixture, Mix by hand until just combined, don’t overwork. Don’t forget to season the egg mixture, the breadcrumbs, & the meat.
9. Form a bunch of meatballs on a backing sheet with some parchment paper. Mine were probably just a little smaller than 2 inches in diameter. I seasoned them after forming, too.
10. Bake the meatballs at 400°F for 17-ish minutes (until they reach 165°F internal).
11. Season the ricotta: While the meatballs bake, mix ricotta with a pinch of the seasoning blend until well combined.
12. Wilt the spinach in a pan with some butter & seasonings.
13. Split 4 hard rolls on top. Spread the herbed ricotta inside, then toast in the oven at 400°F for about 5 minutes. (You can time it to go in with the meatballs or wait until they’re done.)
14. Layer wilted spinach into each toasted roll, top with meatballs, then sprinkle fontina & shredded Parmesan generously over the top.
15. Melt the cheese: Return assembled subs to the oven at 400°F for about 7 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
16. Warm the broth and serve alongside the subs for dipping, French dip style.

Notes:

• I should have used fresh parsley in addition to the dried stuff.
• Use “real” garlic if you’re cooler than me.
• I should have put a tiny bit of spinach in the meatballs too.
• This could have made like 10 sandwiches, I only made 4. We’re gonna freeze stuff for later.
• Use plain or panko or seasoned breadcrumbs, or crush up crackers, parmesan Cheez⟐It, or croutons. Hell, crush up Ritz. Use what ya got.
• Just melt butter with herbs/seasonings & spread it on the bun, then add mozzarella or provolone or whatever kind of cheese you like here if you’re so inclined. I went with Ricotta and Fontina because they seem more mellow for some reason.
• I would use a little pasta here. Maybe orzo or stelline or any kind of pastina.
• Of course you can use sausage, or veal, or pork, or whatever floats your boat.
• The spinach could have used some type of vinegar maybe, to cut the richness? Lemon would work too, but I’m not a huge fan. We had these with a nice small side salad.
• I feel like red bell pepper may not have been out of place here somewhere? In the meatball sauteed? Roasted red peppers on top?
• I hate rice in meatballs, so I subbed in veggies for my cabbage rolls, and that really worked well.

So, there you have it. What do you think? Do you make a similar sub or know of a restaurant or food truck that does? What other kind of soup would make a good meatball sub? My wife suggested French onion. That seems doable and delicious.

What if we got weird with cheddar cheese-filled meatballs dipped in tomato soup? Broccoli cheddar soup inspired, made with meatballs sort of like ham loaf ? I suggested a meatloaf made like a green bean holiday casserole and the family told me that the madness had to stop. (It’s not that far off from mushroom meatloaf mayhem.)

Wait. Ground turkey, boxed stuffing as the breadcrumbs, and a cranberry glaze? That would make one hell of a meatball sub or a meatloaf. (Sort of like my Thanksgiving sliders?)

Maybe the meatball club can be more than just a sandwich, and more than just a photo on some merch? We could strive to make different meatball sandwiches, and have an actual club? Who’s in?

Hit me up in the comments with questions or suggestions!