Guinness Braised Turkey Meatball Hoagie

1. For the meatballs, cut off the crusts of the day old bread slices and then cut into 1″ pieces. In a small bowl, soak bread in milk. In a separate bowl combine ground turkey, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.

2. Next chop up fresh parsley and add it to the ground meat mixture along with an egg, and chopped garlic. Also squeeze out the excess milk from the bread pieces and add the bread to the turkey. Mix till well combined.

3. Heat the olive oil in a 10″ pan on the stove top till it is smoking. Form the turkey mixture into 2 1/2″ balls. Drop them one at a time into the hot oil. Do not overcrowd the pan as you will need to rotate the meatballs to brown all sides and it is easier if there is a little room to maneuver. Once all sides have browned but meatballs are not cooked thoroughly, move them to a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat the process with remaining meatballs till all are browned.

4. Place all the meatballs back into the pan with beer and chicken or vegetable broth. Cover pan with aluminum foil and cook for 15 minutes. Shake the pan every few minutes to splash the liquids on top of the meatballs. Halfway through the 15 minutes, uncover and flip the meatballs. Re-cover and continue to shake the pan every few minutes till the meatballs are done.

5. For the sandwiches, rinse and drain the spinach. Saute in a pan with a little olive oil; cover and let liquids escape and wilt down the spinach, about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, uncover, still cooking and let any liquid evaporate.

6. Assemble sandwich by spreading butter, chopped fresh garlic, salt, and mozzarella cheese on a long roll. Toast till cheese is melted and bread is browned. Arrange sauteed spinach on the inside of the bread, then place the meatballs and drizzle with au jus left in the meatball pan. Serve with a chilled mug of Guinness.

(Recipe adapted from Rachael Ray.)