Homemade Meatball Sandwich

For the meatballs:
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. In a large bowl, add the ground beef, Italian sausage, bell pepper, onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and egg. Mix all ingredients together and form 6 large meatballs. Set the meatballs on a small baking pan and bake uncovered in the preheated oven until they are completely cooked through and browned (about 17 to 20 minutes). Remove from the oven and let rest for about 8 minutes. Keep the oven on for use to melt the cheese on the sandwich.

For the sauce:
While the meatballs are cooking, heat a medium size pan on medium heat. Add the olive oil, onion, and garlic. Sauté for about 4 minutes. Next add the tomato sauce, dried oregano, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir all ingredients together and simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes.

For the sandwich:
Cut the rolls in half lengthwise but not all the way to the bottom. Leave about 1 inch uncut at the bottom of the roll and slightly open each roll. Ladle about ½ cup of the marinara sauce along the inside of each roll. Cut the meatballs in half and lay 3 halves in each roll. Ladle in about another ½ cup of marinara sauce on top of the meatballs in each roll. Top with Parmesan cheese. Lay 3 pieces of the sliced cheese on top of the meatballs in each roll.

Bake in the preheated oven until the cheese is melted (about 8 minutes). Lay the remaining meatballs on top of the melted cheese in each sandwich and ladle on more sauce. There may be some sauce left over. Top with more Parmesan cheese and serve while hot.