Venison Meatball Sub - HuntFishMB Recipes
The deer rut is on! Many hunters have already filled their Manitoba whitetail tag this season and over the next few weeks, many more will. It won't be long now till successful hunters will be sitting with a freezer full of fresh venison looking for new and exciting ways to prepare it.
Just in time for that is an all-new segment of HuntFishMB Recipes with Josh Mcfaddin. In this video, Josh takes a package of ground venison and creates a delicious "Venison Meatball Sub". This recipe will be an awesome way to fill the bellies of hungry buddies in deer camp, or a tasty meal after a long day on the ice this winter! For the full video and written recipe keep scrolling down below!
What you need:
Meatball
- 1 pound ground venison (any ground meat will work)
- 1 medium onion, fine diced and divided in two
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- ⅓ Cup of bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- ¼ Cup milk or cream
- ⅓ Cup chopped italian parsley
- Salt + Pepper to taste
- A few tablespoons of olive or canola oil for pan frying
- 4 fresh long buns
- Fresh basil
- 1 Cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded.
The Sauce
- ½ medium onion, diced (the second half of the meatball onion)
- 1 jar of prepared tomato sauce
- 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon fresh chopped oregano (½ Teaspoon dried)
How to make it:
- Preheat your oven to 350F.
- Place your ground meat, ½ the chopped onion, garlic, bread crumbs, egg, milk, parsley and salt + pepper into a bowl. Mix well.
- Heat a pan on the stove on medium-high heat with a touch of oil.
- As the pan heats, gently form your meatballs. You should get about 12.
- Sear the meatballs in the pan. When you place them in the pan, you should hear a good sizzle. Then leave them until the bottom side forms a crust before turning them to cook the other side. You don't want to move them around as they cook because you won't achieve that nice crispy and flavourful outside layer.
- You aren't cooking the meatballs through in the pan, so once they have a crust, remove them from the pan and set aside.
- Quickly add a touch more oil and the remaining onion to the pan. Cook them until softened and start to caramelize.
- Add the tomato sauce, balsamic and oregano. Stir while you heat the sauce through.
A Little Tomato Bath for our Meatball Friends
- Once the sauce is hot, add your meatballs into the tomato bath and slide the pan into the oven for about 15 minutes or until the meatballs have cooked through. You’ll want to make sure to use a pan with a metal handle that is oven safe.
- As soon as the meatballs are finished, remove them from the oven and switch the oven over to a low broil.
- You can spoon the meatballs, along with sauce, into your buns. Top with fresh basil, mozzarella and slide under the broiler for a minute or two just to melt the cheese and toast the bun.
- Now you are ready to dig in! Keep a napkin close by in case you went a little heavy with the sauce.
- Enjoy with friends who hunt and those who don’t. I guarantee they'll love it!
