On Craving A Meatball Sub

I take care not to confuse my cravings. You see, I take lunch very seriously. For instance, if I want a meatloaf sandwich and try to satisfy that requirement with a burger, I'm going to get to the end of my burger, be unsatisfied and possibly confused and my meatloaf sandwich karma will be damaged. Do not damage your meatloaf sandwich karma.

Having been up to my forearms in ground beef during our recent burgers and fries test kitchen (and having written burger recipes all week) I've zeroed in on today's precise lunch needs: a meatball sub. I want ground beef and cheese on bread. But a cheeseburger won't do it, nor will a patty melt, a meatloaf sandwich or even a pizza burger. It has to be a meatball sub.

I got the meatball idea in my head from Josh Ozersky's "drop, pop and smush" method for cooking burgers in a cast-iron skillet. Then, perusing through old test kitchen photos, I came upon our meatball sliders. If you use our patented stuffed meatballs, they're the Juicy Lucy of party food. And as I slept last night, those factors came together and formed the perfect image of a toasty, gooey meatball sub in my head (very likely my brain signaling that those last three gin and tonics were unwise). When the ground beef gods roused me, as they've reliably done every day this week, I knew what I would eat for lunch. It's covered with sauce and cheese. And it's not a burger.

Oh, and the sandwich can't be from Subway no matter how far the air carries its aroma. Let's all be stronger than that.