This Greek-inspired turkey meatball sandwich is a handful of comfort food! The meatballs include roasted peppers and the meatballs are paired with tomato sauce and tangy feta cheese.
Feel sorry for my family...very sorry. After celebrating my fortieth birthday nearly two weeks ago and being treated to a wonderful surprise party by my husband and friends, I am now sinking into the post-holiday blues, which means that a grumpy little troll (that would be me) will be wandering aimlessly around the house for several days.
These are the kind of blues that makes a girl want to stuff juicy turkey meatballs into hoagie rolls and eat to her heart's content. Seems like a logical panacea. Well, that and a case of Heath bars. The January doldrums actually started last week, but then were quickly swept aside by another surprise my family had in store for me.
At about 10 pm on Thursday night, I was tucked into bed, engrossed in my book when the doorbell rang. At that time of night, a visitor at the front door is never a good thing. I crept downstairs, baffled as to why my husband had not investigated the disturbance, and cautiously peeked through the front window. At the sight of my face plastered to the glass, the people on the front porch broke into an enthusiastic version of Happy Birthday. My parents had flown from Canada, in cahoots with my husband and kids, to surprise me. It doesn't get much better than that. After a weekend of wonderful dinners, fun activities with the kids, and treasured quiet moments in each other's company, my parents have headed home and we are back to our regular pre-holiday routine. While there is comfort in regular life, it will take me several days to bounce back to form...and a few bottles of Tums to deal with that case of Heath bars.
In keeping with healthy eating goals, I wanted to make an easy weeknight meal that would be at home in my post, New Year's Recipes for Good Health. Ground turkey is mixed with Greek-inspired flavors of roasted red bell peppers (try roasting your own), oregano, and myzithra (or feta) cheese. While regular hoagie rolls would work well, I was inspired to try the whole-wheat rolls found in Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg's books, Healthy Breads in Five Minutes a Day. This is a book well worth adding to your collection. I have made several recipes from it, and the bread consistently turns out tender and flavorful. Plus, the recipes seem to be foolproof, a bonus for a bread-making novice like me.
How to make turkey meatball sandwich
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Thoroughly coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, roasted red bell peppers, grated onion, garlic, parsley, dried oregano, egg, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.
Mix well to combine. Using a rounded 2 tablespoon portion of the turkey mixture, form meatballs by rolling between the palms of your hands. Place the meatballs on the prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly.
Bake until the meatballs are firm to the touch and cooked through, about 20 minutes.
In a large saucepan, heat your favorite marinara sauce over medium heat until simmering. Add meatball and stir to coat. Simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
Preheat broiler. Place hoagie rolls on large baking sheet, divide the meatballs and sauce evenly on the bottom halves of the rolls and top each with 1 tablespoon myzithra (or feta) cheese. Broil for about 1 minute, or until the buns are slightly toasted. Serve.
Printable Recipe
Greek Turkey Meatball Sandwich
Ingredients
The meatballs
- 1 ¼ pound lean (93%) ground turkey meat
- 1 roasted bell pepper finely chopped
- ½ medium yellow onion grated
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons dried breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
The rest
- 3 cups marinara sauce (your favorite kind)
- 6 hoagie rolls preferably whole-wheat
- ¼ cup crumbled myzithra or feta cheese
Instructions
The meatballs
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Thoroughly coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, roasted red peppers, grated onion, garlic, parsley, dried oregano, egg, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.
- Mix well to combine. Using a rounded 2 tablespoon portion of the turkey mixture, form meatballs by rolling between the palms of your hands. Place the meatballs on the prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly.
- Mix well to combine. Using a rounded 2 tablespoon portion of the turkey mixture, form meatballs by rolling between the palms of your hands. Place the meatballs on the prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly.
The rest
- In a large saucepan, heat your favorite marinara sauce over medium heat until simmering. Add meatball and stir to coat. Simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
- Preheat broiler. Place hoagie rolls on large baking sheet, divide the meatballs and sauce evenly on the bottom halves of the rolls and top each with 1 tablespoon myzithra (or feta) cheese. Broil for about 1 minute, or until the buns are slightly toasted. Serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclosure: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Denise
Happy Birthday!! I just turned the dreaded 4-0 also (bday is 9/11!), and thankfully it wasn't as bad as the year leading up to it. Man...talk about a mind trip. I guess it was relief when I finally hit "the day" and got past it 😉 I also made sure to do something FUN, and that I had never done before. So I made my hubby take me kayaking out on the intracoastal waterway (we live in South Florida). It was AWESOME!! So think of something that you want to do! Also planning on celebrating this as the birthday year!!
You can't go wrong with a warm, cheesy, saucy meatball sub! These look SO good, and are making me hungry again. Thanks for sharing about your big day...I've yet to do a post on mine.
Denise @ Creative Kitchen
marla
Dara, that is so exciting that your folks surprised you with a visit. By the way, you are so uplifitng I could never imagine you in a bad mood. Really.
These meatball sandwiches look wonderful. Smothered in that sauce - I could dive right in! Hope you are all smiles now.
The Food Hunter
Happy Birthday to you...I love your Greek inspired meatballs.
Angie's Recipes
Happy belated Birthday!
And I would love to celebrate my birthday with such a sandwich!
HollyL
Oh My! This looks amazing! I just had lunch, but if this was right in front of me I'd eat it! Looks so good!!
Shulie
Happy Birthday Dara!! This post and the red quinoa salad before are absolute keepers. How have I missed them?! I also love your banner, is it new or am I guilty of not visiting enough?! Love your recipes and photographs and will refer to both these recipes in the near future for dinner or lunch.
Cookin' Canuck
Thanks so much for all of your comments.
This sandwich will be making a regular appearance in our dinner line-up.
JustforLicks
That just looks amazing! That's what I want for lunch. Now! 🙂
Cake Duchess
Sounds like your birthday was perfect! This sandwich looks wonderful!! I love it!
Rosemary
I do believe I am bread baking challenged, so I truly appreciate your suggestion of a (near?) foolproof book.