Italian Turkey Meatball Subs

Since I did not cook last weekend and ate frozen meals for dinner most of the week, I knew that this weekend I definitely had to cook something.  One of my favorite recipes from Skinnytaste that I have made is the Skinny Italian Turkey Meatballs (http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/12/skinny-italian-meatballs-turkey-1-pt.html) and it has been a while since I last made them, so I decided that today would be the day.

The recipe makes 6 servings of 4 meatballs, which is perfect because between me and my sister we have dinner taken care of for 3 nights.  For me the recipe takes longer than it is supposed to according to Skinnytaste (I started at 3:45 and finished at 5:10), but it is pretty simple.  The sauce has crushed tomatoes, garlic, a little olive oil, oregano, fresh basil, salt, pepper, onion, and a bay leaf, and you just let it simmer while you prep the meatballs.  For the meatballs, you just need 1.3 lbs 99% lean ground turkey, seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, parsley, egg, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Since it makes 24 meatballs, I weighed out the meat to make sure that all of the meatballs were the same size, and it came to exactly 1 oz per meatball. The recipe says that the meatballs should take about 20 minutes on simmer, but on my stove it takes about 45 minutes.  I'm not sure why there is such a large discrepancy, but if you are making them just make sure that you check the meatballs after 20 minutes, as they probably will need more time.  

You can choose to eat these with pasta or some other side, but my sister and I prefer to make them as meatball subs.  I found these really great subs in Gristedes, Calandra's Italian Rolls, which are really big and only 90 calories!  The package comes with 6 subs, which is perfect for the recipe.  To make them even better, I follow the package directions and re-heat them in the oven for 10 minutes (wrapped in foil so they remain very soft and fluffy).  

After I took my first bite, I remembered why this was my favorite recipe.  The meatballs are very juicy and flavorful, and the sauce is really delicious as well.  Having it on the sub is definitely the way to go, especially when you heat it up, because it tastes like it is fresh out of the oven.  The sandwich is extremely satisfying and filling and it is hard to believe how healthy the recipe really is!  While there are a lot of recipes that I love to make, most of them pale in comparison to this one.  If you are looking for a  lighter way to satisfy your craving for meatballs or a sub, definitely check this recipe out and i'm sure it won't disappoint!