The 10 Best Sandwitches

Method:

Meatballs baguette

This is a generous and very satisfying sandwich: crusty baguette, soft meatballs, and a rich spicy tomato sauce with black olives. The idea is not to fry the meatballs until fully cooked, but only to sear them first, so they get a little colour on the outside. Then they finish cooking gently inside the tomato sauce, becoming tender and absorbing all the flavour.

Use a good Italian passata if possible, especially one from the south of Italy. Southern passata usually has a naturally sweet, sunny tomato flavour, which works beautifully with chilli, garlic and olives.

Meatballs

Put the minced meat in a large bowl. Add the egg, grated cheese, breadcrumbs, chopped parsley, one grated or very finely chopped garlic clove, a good pinch of salt and some black pepper.

Mix everything together with your hands, but do not overwork the mixture too much. You want the meatballs to hold together, but if you press and knead the meat for too long, they can become dense.

Shape the mixture into small or medium meatballs. For a baguette sandwich, it is better if they are not too large, because they fit inside the bread more easily and are nicer to eat. Something around the size of a walnut is ideal.

Searing the meatballs

Heat a little olive oil in a wide pan. When the oil is hot, add the meatballs in a single layer. Do not overcrowd the pan; if necessary, do this in batches.

Sear the meatballs on all sides until they have a nice golden-brown colour. They do not need to be fully cooked at this stage. The purpose is only to give them flavour and a little crust on the outside.

Once browned, remove the meatballs from the pan and keep them on a plate while you prepare the sauce.

Spicy tomato sauce

In the same pan, add a little more olive oil if needed. Add the chopped onion and cook gently until soft. Add the second garlic clove, lightly crushed or finely chopped, and the sliced chillies. Cook for another minute, without burning the garlic.

Pour in the tomato passata. Stir well, scraping the bottom of the pan so all the flavour from the meatballs goes into the sauce.

Add the black olives, a pinch of salt and some black pepper. Let the sauce simmer gently for about 10 minutes, so it starts to thicken and the chilli, olives and tomato come together.

Cooking the meatballs in the sauce

Return the seared meatballs to the pan, nestling them into the tomato sauce. Cover partly with a lid and let everything simmer gently for about 20-25 minutes.

Turn the meatballs carefully once or twice while they cook. By the end, the sauce should be rich and slightly reduced, and the meatballs should be cooked through but still soft and juicy.

Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning. If it is too sharp, let it cook a little longer. If it becomes too thick, add a small splash of water.

Assemble the baguette

Cut the baguette into sandwich portions and slice each one open lengthwise. Toast the bread lightly, especially the inside, so it can hold the sauce without becoming too soft immediately.

Spoon some spicy tomato sauce into the baguette. Add the meatballs, pressing them gently into the bread. Spoon over more sauce, making sure some olives and chillies go into each sandwich.

Finish with a little grated cheese if you like, although the sandwich is already rich and flavourful without it. A few fresh basil or parsley leaves at the end are also very good.

Serving suggestion

Serve immediately, while the bread is still crusty and the meatballs are hot. This sandwich is best eaten with plenty of napkins. The sauce should be generous, almost overflowing, but the baguette should still have enough crust to fight back.