Football Food: Marinara meatball and sausage subs
For some men (and women), food passions especially flare up during football season. Once aroused, these passions are best satisfied with simple food, preferably something you can stuff into your face with your bare hands. The fare must also work as good drinking food, so salads— which do not absorb alcohol— need not apply.
Let’s face it, most food that we associate with sporting events and public gatherings is not the stuff of nutritionists, and should probably only be consumed by athletes themselves, whose metabolism demands massive caloric doses. But dedicated sporting fans generously take one or two for the team. Cheeseburgers. Chili dogs. Fried Chicken wings. Nachos. Pizza. You know the drill.
I’m a Buccaneers fan, but I’m often more excited about the food than the games. It is no wonder that football fans eat and drink so much—- the games last forever and over 2/3rds of the time is devoted to stupid commercials aimed at stupid people. But most football fans are not stupid— at least at the beginning of the game. That’s where the drinks come in. They are especially necessary to tune out or tolerate some of the game hosts and announcers, who are convinced they are MVPs with microphones. The pre-game, in-game, half time, and post-game commentary is so long and exacting as to baffle one’s patience. (remainder of rant deleted) So drinking beer, wine, or liquor at one in the afternoon is perfectly acceptable.
Since football fans are hungry and bored 2/3rds of the time, if i invite friends over to watch a game, we get take out or I cook, and we sometimes feature certain cocktails. (Just ask me about the Gin Rickey incident some time.) So for the 2008-09 football season, I will post game day suggestions for face stuffing and guzzling.
In this first installment, I present marinara subs two ways: sausage or meatball, both hot off the grill.
To make memorable subs, begin by making a fresh marinara sauce. In many cases, canned whole tomatoes have the best flavor, unless you have access to good ripe fresh tomatoes. Drain the canned tomatoes and remove the pulp and seeds.
For a proper Aztec human sacrifice, you must remove the heart while it still beats. Crushing the tomatoes in your hands helps make them more manageable in the pan and works out any extra liquid to shorten your cooking time.
After sauteeing onions and green peppers, add the tomatoes and garlic. Cook until thickened. The photo above shows a thickened sauce. When i push it aside at the top of the photo, it is not runny enough to flow back into place. After adding some red wine and simmering about ten minutes, I pureed the sauce with an immersion blender.
For good Italian sausage, I went to the Cacciatore brothers’ store on Armenia. I go with sweet or hot, no chicken sausage allowed. I prefer Castellano and Pizzo’s. To maximize flavor, I grill peppers and onions for the sandwiches as well. It is amazing how much of the smoky grilled flavor the vegetables can hold. To make their handling much easier, I use skewers. Otherwise, flipping the peppers— and especially the onions, which sometimes fall apart— can be a chore.
My brother Tim mixed up a nice batch of meatballs, using chef Rocco Dispirito’s mother’s recipe. A mild, classic mixture of beef, pork, and veal with some egg, cheese, bread crumbs, and parsley. For a little added flavor, I cooked them gently on the grill. Cooking with too much heat would have left the meatballs with a hard crust and without their tender texture. Besides, they did not have to be completely cooked on the grill— they would simmer in the sauce briefly before serving.
After a quick slumber in the sauce, the meatballs are ready. For a side dish, I sauteed fresh spinach with raspberry vinegar, small cubes of fresh (“wet”) mozzarella, and pecans. I serve the subs on Cuban bread, but a more tender bread also works well. They work well as sliders. A larger, more dressed sandwich is also great, piled with some grilled vegetables and a little parm.
For dessert, Peterton Crackers brought the making of banana splits. A man of appetite, Peterton is known for eating well during the first half of the game, and sleeping during the second. Just one of many ways for football fans to deal with intermittent games swarming with the vain utterances of commercials, hosts and announcers.