Vegetarian Mushroom Meatball Sub Recipe

I finally got around to making these meatball subs I found over at Once a Month Mom earlier this month. Mine are more mushroom meatball sub with cheese and mushroom cranberry juice sauce, but hey, whatever. Here's the way it was intended. Enjoy.





Mushroom Meatball Sub with Brie and Mushroom Red Wine Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 lb. package ground "beef"

1/2 C mushrooms, finely chopped + 1 C mushrooms, sliced

1 large onion, diced, with 1/4 C reserved

1 egg

1/4 C plain bread crumbs

1/4 C red wine + 3 T red wine (I substituted cranberry juice)

1 tsp. dry rosemary

1/2 tsp. thyme

Salt and pepper



1/4 C butter (1/2 stick)

1/2 C beef-style vegetable broth

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, minced

1-2 T flour

1 toasted loaf of french bread or ciabatta





Directions

1) Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

2) Combine the "beef", 1/2 C finely chopped mushrooms, 1/4 C onion, egg, bread crumbs, 3 T of red wine, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper. Make a thin patty with the mixture about the size of your palm, put a piece of brie in the middle, and roll into a ball.

3) Place meatballs in a glass baking dish or baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes at 400 degrees, until brown.

4) While the meatballs are baking, start making the mushroom sauce.  Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Saute the rest of your onions and the garlic for about a minute before adding 1 C sliced mushrooms, and fresh rosemary. Cook for about 3 minutes. Add "beef" broth and 1/4 C wine and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir in as much flour as you want to get the sauce to the thickness you desire.

5) Put the meatballs in the sauce and toss to coat. Slice the meatballs (or use them whole) in the toasted and sliced bread and top with sauce and extra brie.



The original recipe can be found here but I came by it by way of Tricia at Once a Month Mom.





The Results

I imagine it would've been "fancier" with brie and the French loaf. But, alas, I'm a sucker for what I have in the pantry. I had the mozzarella and the day-old frozen Baldino's sub shop rolls. So, that's what I made them with. And, yum. This was really good. I used "Gimme Lean" beef-style ground soy protein and it worked really well consistency-wise for the meatballs. If you're soy-free, try using Quorn beef-style crumbles and adding an extra egg. 





I'm not a huge fan of stuffing things inside other things. I mean, why not just put it on top, why make it hard, right? But I did, because I try to stay as close as possible to the original recipe the first time I make it. Hey, stop laughing, I said "try" and the meat swap doesn't count. Anyway, I did it as I was told, like the little recipe-following automaton I am. And I'm glad I did! These were cheesy and delicious, it was like a little surprise inside I almost forgot about. 





Go make them tonight. I think it would be good with marinara or bolognese sauce, instead of the mushroom red wine sauce, too. I think you could make these into good hamburgers with cheddar cheese inside and "bacon" on top. So moist and fantastic. 





What's your favorite way to dress a "hamburger" or make meatballs? I love this meatball recipe, but as for hamburgers, I like mine with avocado, blue cheese and "bacon" on top. I'll have to try stuffing them with provolone cheese next time.





This post is linked at Just Another Meatless Monday, Midnight Maniac Meatless Mondays My Meatless Mondays, Just Something I Whipped Up, Hearth and Soul Hop, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Real Food Wednesday, Homemaker Monday and Delicious Dishes.