Ranch Turkey Meatball Subs

Luckily football season extends over 16 regular season games minimally which gives us all the opportunity to cook our way through 16 weeks of game day eats.  Who doesn't love game day eats right?

Yes, it's all about the Denver crockpot again because this is Broncos Country after all. Meatballs are perfect crockpot food because the longer you leave them in there, the better they seem to get. 

I think homemade marinara is such an easy thing to make.  The mess however is atrocious so I always make a mega "use Sams Club sized #10 cans" batch when I do.  Who wants to clean up tomato sauce spatter multiple times when you get get such a big batch done at once and just freeze it?  

First you start off with onions as many fantastic foods often do. Add garlic and basil. I sometimes split the basil so that I had some to the sautéing onions and the remaining amount after the tomatoes.  I don't know why. 

Add carrots, red wine and vinegar.  I know the balsamic may sound strange at first but I swear it's the secret ingredient.  When balsamic reduces it has a sweet tangy taste that makes the sauce.  It won't taste like vinegar, I promise.   Carrots add a natural sweetness to the sauce as well. 

Then you add the tomatoes and let it cook away.  This recipe is so simple and definitely worth the small amount of chopping it takes.  It only takes a little more prep time that opening a jar and homemade sauce is always better than jarred. 

Confession time: even the garlic was from a jar because I hate touching the stuff.  I know that puts me into the weird cook category because every time I watch Food Network, they all have such a time chopping garlic. They pick it up with their hands and just that act sends me into a bit of a shudder..  No matter what I do, I can't get the smell of garlic off my hands well enough for my bloodhound nose not to fixate on it.  I think jarred garlic  tastes like the preservative solution it's stored in, but freeze dried garlic?  Genius and absolutely no after taste. It's a slightly larger mince but perfect for recipes like this where it's going to be further pureed with the sauce.  There's also a frozen garlic you can buy in little individual servings.  I've done a lot of garlic research in my efforts to avoid touching it. 

The meatballs are pretty straight forward except for the Ranch dressing packet. I add it because as we know, turkey can taste boring.  The ranch gives them a little pop of flavor but doesn't taste distinctively like ranch.  I know because I don't generally like ranch.  

I opt to broil them to avoid the mess of browning but as we all know, browning in a frying pan on the stovetop is pretty delish too.  This recipe makes a little less than 2 full size trays of meatballs depending on size. I made 45 total. 

I made meatball subs for game day but made a batch for an office potluck as well.  Meatballs make a pretty awesome slider as well and throwing some of the frozen Rhodes dinner rolls in the oven is perfect for making slider sized buns.  Plus people ask you if you baked.  Technically you did. 

These are pretty fantastic made the day before the big game and then reheated in the crockpot on game day. And while they are perfect served up Broncos style, I'm guessing they would taste pretty bad if served while watching the Raiders or Chiefs.  Or Chargers. Or Steelers.  Or Patriots.   In fact I'm sure they would. 

Serve on rolls with freshly sliced mozzarella and enjoy while watching a little Mile High Magic. 

Ranch Turkey Meatball Subs

Marinara:
3 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4-5 cloves crushed garlic
2/3 cup roughly chopped carrots
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup red wine
1 #10 size can crushed tomatoes or equivalent (about 96 ounces)
1/2 cup fresh chopped basil, or 2-3 tbsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

Meatballs:
4 lbs ground turkey
1 pkg dry ranch dressing mix
3 garlic cloves finely minced
1/2 cup milk
1 c bread crumbs
3 eggs
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 tsp pepper
1-2 tbsp basil

For serving:
Rolls
mozzarella

Directions:

1. Prepare sauce: add olive oil to a large 8-10 quart stockpot and heat over medium heat.  Add diced onions and cook until slightly soft and translucent, about 4-5 minutes
2. Add garlic, basil and cook for 1-2 minutes taking care not to let garlic brown.
3. Turn heat to high and add carrots, vinegar and wine. Allow liquid to reduce by 1/2. 
4. Add crushed tomatoes, reduce heat to medium low, top with lid and cook sauce for 45 minutes.  
5. Use stick blender to puree sauce.  Turn heat to low, return lid and allow to simmer while you prepare meatballs. 
6. Preheat oven on broil and place rack on second slot down from broiler.
7. Add all meatball ingredients to large mixing bowl, and gently mix well enough to combine ingredients but taking care not to overmix meat. 
8. Shape meatballs into 1 inch meatballs and place on lightly greased baking sheet.  Broil until brown on top and flip to brown other side (was about 4 minutes per side in my oven)
9. Remove from oven and transfer meatballs to marinara.  
10. Simmer for 2-3 hours on low.  Serve with rolls and mozzarella.