Chicken Parmesan Meatball Subs

A little bit behind on posting recent recipe trials.  Chicken Parmesan is one of Chris' absolute favorite meals.  Unfortunately for him, I have yet to find a recipe that I am happy with...probably because I don't like to fry things and that's the only way you can get a truly crisp chicken breast.

This sub version comes from the super fab Rachel Ray.  I forgot to buy ground chicken/turkey so it ended being more of a meatball (used 1lb ground beef and 1/2 lb spicy pork sausage) sub.  I'm sure had I done it "correctly" it'd taste delicious but this version was great, too.  An accelerated version of my normal (Grandma Barrante's) version of meatballs and sauce.

Chicken Parmesan Subs
(Source: Rachel Ray as seen on 30 Minute Meals)

Cook Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 pounds ground chicken or ground turkey (as stated above, I forgot to buy this main ingredient!  Ended up using 1lb ground beef and 1/2 lb ground spicy pork sausage instead)
• 1 tablespoon grill seasoning blend
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup Italian blend cheese
• 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
• Handful of chopped parsley leaves (1 Tbsp dried parsley)
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for liberal drizzling plus, plus 3 tablespoons for pan
• 2 large cloves garlic, cracked from skin and split (used minced garlic)
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup chicken stock
• Salt & Pepper
• 8 to 10 leaves fresh basil, torn or shredded or 1 Tbsp dried basil
• 4 (6 to 8-inch) crusty sub rolls
• 1-1/2 cups shredded provolone

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Place chicken in a bowl and season with grill seasoning. Add egg, half of the grated cheese, bread crumbs, parsley, and a serious drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil to the bowl. Mix the meat and form 12 large meatballs. Squish the balls to flatten them a bit like mini oval meatloaves. Be careful not to form the balls wider than your bread. The flattened balls will stay put on your sub, no roll-aways! Bake the meatballs 15 minutes until golden and firm. Switch the broiler on.
3. While the meatballs bake, heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and garlic and cook 5 minutes then remove the cloves. Add crushed red pepper flakes then tomatoes and stir in the chicken stock. Season the sauce with salt and pepper and simmer 10 minutes, adjust seasonings and stir in the basil. Reserve a extra sauce for dipping on dinner table.
4. Remove the meat from oven and loosen with a thin spatula. Turn meat balls in sauce.
5. Cut sub rolls making the bottom a little deeper than the top. Hollow out a little bread and lightly toast the sub rolls under broiler. Fill the bottoms of the breads with flattened balls and sauce. Combine the provolone and remaining Parmigiano. Cover the subs with cheese and return to broiler to melt the cheese until golden.