Yes Italian off the smoker! If you are a meatball lover then you are going to dig this recipe. I have grown bored of the standard marinara sauces that are on the sweet site and wanted a bit more tangy and dimension to the flavor. As for the meatballs, I wanted an off the hook savory, moist yet meaty meatball that was tender. I accomplished both tasks at hand and brought them together in a apple smoked meatball sub that will please. After eating one of these messy but oh so pleasing sammie's, I thought enough of it to make it my signature meatball sub. Let's get to cooking!

Start of with placing the sausage and ground beef in a large mixing bowl. In a medium mixing bowl you will combine the eggs, Worcestershire, parsley, mushrooms, red onion, rosemary, garlic and sun dried tomatoes. Mix this thoroughly.

Pour this egg mixture  over the meat and using your hands kneed the liquids into the meat until its evenly mixed in. Next add the bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and pepper. Thoroughly mix this into the meat. Cover the meat and place it into your refrigerator for two hours. This will allow all the flavors to meld.

After the meat has rested and all the flavors have come together it's time to make the meatballs. Start forming 2" to 2 1/2" meatballs and place them on greased smoking racks. The reason we are making large meatballs is that they will stay allot more moister and turn out very tender. Once cooked we will cut them in half. Trust me on this one... There is a big difference.

Pre-heat your cooker to 210 degrees. I chose to use apple wood pellets which complimented the flavor of the meatballs nicely. Place the meatballs into the cooker and cook @ 210 degrees until the internal temp reaches 160 degrees. Make sure to mist the meatballs a couple time during the cook with some apple juice. This will keep them moist and add flavor.

While the meatballs are soaking up the apple wood smoke, it's time to make the marinade. In a large pan over high heat, add 2 Tbsp extra Virgin Olive oil. Once oil is hot, sauté the onions, garlic, mushrooms, parsley and basil. Do this just long enough to brown the garlic a bit. At this point your kitchen will be smelling wonderful. Now add two 28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes. Pour in 2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar and add 2 Tsp Oregano. Stir this all in and bring to a boil. Once the marinara has come to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 45 minutes to an hour stirring occasionally.

Once the meatballs reach 160 degrees, remove them from the cooker and let them stand 20 minutes. Slice them in half and then add them to the marinara. Let the meatballs soak up the marinara for at least 20 minutes.

While the meatballs are hot-tubbing in the marinara, lets get the bread going. Slice some 6" sub type rolls in half. Place them in your cooker or oven and cook at 300 until they begin to toast. Removed a cup of marinara and spread this on each slice of bread. Sprinkle on the Mozzarella to your liking and continue to cook until the cheese has melted.

Let's build the sub! Take a spoon an smear marinara on top of the melted Mozzarella on each side of the roll. Spoon on about 3 meatball halves. You will see they are still good sized but if you place them flat side down they will stay in place better. Top the meatballs off with some marinara. Put the lid on and poke a tooth pick in at each end to hold it all together. These are messy but they are amazing!

Serve with nothing but napkins!