Serving of Spatini Turkey Italian Sausage Sandwich
This is a “Go To” recipe of ours that we use on week nights when we don’t have much time and want something tasty for dinner. We use Turkey Italian Sausage because it’s low in fat and cholesterol. You could substitute a low fat regular Italian Sausage if you like.
Make the Spatini Tomato Sauce
2 tbsp Spatini Seasoning
1/4 tsp McCormick Italian Seasoning
1 (13 oz) can of tomato sauce
Blend the Spatini, Italian Seasoning, and tomato sauce together in a large bowl.
Stir well.
Microwave for 30 – 40 seconds to warm up. Stir again.
What you need to make this recipe
Turkey (or regular) Italian Sausage
Submarine Sandwich Rolls (some call these Hoagie Rolls).
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Spatini Tomato Sauce (above)
Making the Italian Sausage Sandwich (a.k.a Grinders)
Cook 2 Italian Sausages for each sandwich you will be making.
Preheat broiler.
Slice each sausage in half length-wise.
Spread the Spatini Tomato Sauce mix over both tops and bottoms of the hoagie roll.
Add 3 or 4 halves of the cooked Italian Sausage.
Top both sides of the Hoagie roll with shredded Mozzarella cheese.
Place on baking pan.
Broil until the cheese is melted and a little browned (caramelized).
If you are on a time crunch for dinner and happen to have a Rotisserie Chicken on hand (or as a left over), and hoagie rolls, then this recipe makes a meal in about 30 minutes or less.
Ingredients in the Spatini Chicken Sandwich
Spatini Tomato Sauce (see below)
Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded
Parmesan Cheese, grated
Hoagie Rolls (also known as submarine rolls) — see picture
2 thick slices of Rotisserie Chicken Breast
Lettuce, Shredded
To assemble the sandwiches
Preheat broiler.
Slice hoagie roll in half and place on a baking sheet covered with non-stick aluminum foil.
Generously spread the Spatini Tomato Sauce (below) over each half of the hoagie roll
Evenly sprinkle Mozzarella Cheese and a little Parmesan over the sauce.
Place the two slices of chicken on the bottom half of the hoagie.
Sprinkle more Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese over top of the sliced chicken.
Broil the sandwiches, with faces up so the cheese melts, bubbles, and browns (caramelizes). These cook quickly, so watch carefully so they don’t burn.
Remove from broiler, let sit a minute, then top with shredded lettuce.
Serve with potato or tortilla chips.
Spatini Tomato Sauce
2 tbsp Spatini Seasoning
1/4 tsp McCormick Italian Seasoning
1 (13 oz) can of tomato sauce
Blend the Spatini, Italian Seasoning, and tomato sauce together in a large bowl.
Stir well.
Microwave for 30 – 40 seconds to warm up. Stir again.
The primary use of Spatini Seasoning is making an Italian Style Tomato Sauce. Yet Spatini is used in many more ways. Here’s a recipe for a delicious meat ball made with lean ground beef.
Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1 1/2 tablespoon Spatini Seasoning
1/2 tsp Italian Herb Seasoning
1 can tomato sauce (no-salt added preferred)*
Your favorite pasta
Mix the bread crumbs, Spatini Seasoning and Italian Seasoning together in a medium size bowl. Blend together well. Add the beef and mix well. Roll the seasoned beef between your palms to form into meatballs. Ours pictured above were about 1 1/4″ in diameter and our make 12 of these large meatballs. Making them 3/4″ to 1″ will produce more meat balls.
Place the meatballs in a large non-stick skillet that has been lightly oiled with olive oil. We find it convenient to to use an olive oil that comes in a spray can so it coats the bottom evenly. You can see in the picture below, we really used very little olive oil, just enough to coat the bottom and no more.
Uncooked Spatini Beef Meatballs
Preheat your oven to 350° F. Brown the meatballs over medium-low heat cooking for about 10-15 minutes. Turn the meatballs regularly to brown evenly on all sides. The best way to do this is by hand. Wear a latex or nitrile glove on your hand, grab the meatball with your fingers, quickly rotate and place the meatballs on another side. You can spend forever trying to get one meatball properly set on a new side if you are using a spatula or tongs. Below are the evenly browned meatballs. Note how little fat is in the pan even after cooking since we used very lean ground beef.
Browned Spatini Beef Meatballs
Place the meatballs in to an oven safe casserole dish. Top with tomato sauce, and bake for 35 – 45 minutes. When about 20 minutes remain, prepare your favorite pasta according to package directions. When like trying different foods and experimenting. Our completed serving at the top features heartly Japanese Udon noodles which we purchased at our local Asian Market. They are similar to Italian style pastas, yet are thicker in diameter and shorter in length. They are a great way to add a new twist to any pasta dish. Pictured below is the fully cooked meatballs and tomato sauce just after being removed from the oven.
Cooked Spatini Beef Meatballs in Casserole
Serve with Garlic Bread, if desired.
Makes 3 to 4 servings.
*Use No-Salt Added Tomato Sauce because there is adequate salt in Spatini Seasoning
Have you been trying to find Spatini in your local grocery store? You won’t find Spatini there as it’s no longer packaged in the small packages.
But there is good news! Spatini is still made and is available in a large restaurant sized package. It’s 15oz, and is equivalent to 6 cartons (18 packets) of the grocer size pouches.
