Ingredients
Bread prep the day before
320 g bread flour
10 g salt
5 g instant dry yeast
280 g water
2 tablespoons olive oil
Meatballs
1 pound ground beef 80/20
1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated on a microplane
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 cloves garlic grated
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes or to personal taste
Finish it
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
2 cloves garlic minced
1 pinch salt
4 slices provolone
2 slices mozzarella
1 cup tomato sauce store bought or homemade
Directions
1
prep the bread the day before
2
In a large bowl mix the flour, salt, yeast, and water. Stir to combine, and continue stirring for about 3-5 minutes.
3
Make sure the bowl is at least 3x the size of the amount of dough you have made, otherwize transfer it to a new bowl. Coat the top of the dough with olive oil. Cover the bowl and put it in the fridge to rise overnight
4
Make the meatballs
5
Mix all the meatball ingredients in a large bowl and use your hands to make sure they are really well mixed. Form 9 meatballs from this mixture. They should be medium-large meatballs, about 3 ounces each. Set aside in the fridge until ready to use.
6
4 hours before you want to eat
7
Take the dough out of the fridge. Use a spatula to unstick it from the edges of the bowl. It will deflate a bit. Pull one edge towards the center, then spin the bowl slightly and repeat. Do this about 12 times to form a loose wet dough ball.
8
Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil into a 1/4 sheet pan and brush all around the pan. place your dough ball into the pan, seam side down. Allow to rest on the counter for 3-4 hours. it should expand to fill the pan. I usually cover it with another pan upside down.
9
Finish the bread
10
Preheat oven to 450
11
Mix 2 tablespoons of olive oil with the chopped rosemary, garlic, and salt.
12
Dip your fingers in oil, and use them to dimple the dough and help it stretch out in the pan.
13
Drizzle the rosemary oil over the bread
14
Bake at 450 for 25 minutes until browned on top and fluffy.
15
Make the sandwiches
16
Preheat a cast iron griddle to high heat. Add a high smoke point oil like peanut to the pan. Place a meatball down and cook 1 minute, then flip it and smash it as thin as you can. You really want to smash it! Let it cook a minute or two smashed, then use a spatula to scrape it off the griddle and flip it. Continue this process with all the meatballs.
17
Top each with some sauce, then a slice of cheese. Layer them in two stacks of 3 smashed meatballs, with the mozzarella topped meatballs in the center of each stack.
18
Cut the bread into 4 quarters.
19
Put a slice of bread down and top with some sauce. Then add the meatball stack, then more sauce. Top with another slice of bread. Repeat with the second sandwich. Cut in half and serve!