Sausage Meatball Hoagies with Pesto
directions
- Remove sausage from the casings. Discard casings. Gently roll sausage into small meatballs. You should have about 12. Brown meatballs in a non-stick skillet over medium heat until lightly browned. Set aside.
- To a saucepan add about half the olive oil, sliced fennel, chopped onion and half the crushed garlic. Cook over medium heat until ingredients are softened for about 10 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and juice to the saucepan with the vegetables, crushing with your hands as you go. Bring to a simmer and cook until sauce if reduced and thickened.
- Add meatballs to the simmering tomato sauce mix and cook for another 10 minutes.
- While meatballs are simmering, make the pesto by adding the remaining olive oil, basil leaves, remaining garlic and grated parmesan to a food processor. Pulse just until well mixed. Scrape out into a bowl and add a bit of salt and pepper to taste.
- To assemble Hoagies: Preheat oven to broil. Smear the inside of the split hoagie rolls with some of the basil pesto. Fill each roll with meatballs and tomato sauce. Top with slices of fresh mozzarella and run under the broiler for a few minutes to melt the cheese.
4
servings
15 min
prep time
30 min
cook time
ingredients
1 pkg Swaggerty’s Farm Hot or Sweet Italian Sausage Links
1/3 cup olive oil, divided
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, crushed and divided
One 28 ounce can whole tomatoes with juice
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 firm hoagie rolls, cut lengthwise down the middle
4 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Level of complexity
Easy
Ingredients
10
Special kitchen tools
N/A
Pairs well with
Season fruit, salad, chips
to serve
Serve with an additional grating of fresh black pepper and pesto.