Open-Faced Italian Sandwiches (for the freezer!)

Many years ago I showed up at a parent/teacher conference for my (then) second grader.  On the wall I noticed the comparison/contrast paragraphs written by all the students:  "My Most Favorite Meal" and "My Least Favorite Meal".  I quickly located my child's work and read "My least favorite meal is my mom's sloppy joes that she makes with spicy buffalow sauce."  Huh??  I had to wrack my brain to try to remember ever making sloppy joes with...buffalo sauce??  The teacher had been wondering about that interesting combination too.  We had a good laugh over it, and the take-away message was clear...my sloppy joes, while not actually made with any sort of buffalo sauce, were apparently a bit too bold for young palates!

Funny thing is, I had no clue that this child disliked sloppy joes!  I had served them many times and never a word was spoken about it.  This is a kid who is super flexible, resilient, and full of uncommon, rock-solid good sense, coupled with a sweet and uncomplaining spirit.  Oh thank you Lord, for this child, who is SO the opposite of myself that we are a perfect match!

So in honor of this child's aversion to sloppy joes, I made an Italian variation tonight, open-faced, on gluten-free hamburger buns, with mozzarella melted on top.  No "spicy buffalow sauce" in sight.

Open-Faced Italian Sandwiches

This recipe comes out of a book I bought recently, The Everything Freezer Meals Cookbook, by Candace Anderson, with Nicole Cormier RD.  This book is full of pretty basic family fare.  It contains some recipes that call for things like cream of _______ soup, but, I can overlook that, make my own substitutions, and just glean the good stuff.  And by good stuff, I mean quick, simple, basic, healthy food that I can make ahead and then take some nights off kitchen duty.  And for that I am truly grateful.  Leaves more time for blogging. 

This recipe is located HERE, so you can read it in it's entirety.  I doubled the tomato paste and water--the way it was written was a bit "dry".  I wanted the meat a little saucier.  And it needed salt and pepper.  And I changed the procedure a little bit.  Of course, I subbed in gluten-free hamburger buns for the Italian bread.  Here's my version:

1 lb. ground beef
2 T. onion chopped (I also threw in some finely chopped yellow peppers, about another 2 T)
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1/4 c. tomato paste
1/2 c. water
3 to 4 hamburger buns (both tops and bottoms, so 6 to 8 halves)
cream cheese (I love Nancy's organic cultured cream cheese)
mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Drizzle a little bit of oil in a stainless steel pot or skillet with sides, sauté onion, garlic, and pepper for just a few minutes until soft.  Add tomato paste, water, Italian Seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir to combine, then add in 1 lb of cooked ground beef (that you oh-so-conveniently cooked and froze at an earlier time, then thawed in the fridge overnight).  Stir and heat through.

Split your hamburger buns into halves and toast in the oven for just a few minutes, like 3 to 5 minutes.  Remove and carefully spread a thin coat of cream cheese on each half.  Top with beef mixture. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.  Return to oven until cheese gets all melty and slightly bubbly, about another 4 to 5 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

These sandwiches went over big at my house.  I tried to come up with a clever Italian name for them, but wasn't that creative; my hubby says we can still just call them sloppy joes, only we need to say it with an Italian accent.  He said these need to go into a weekly rotation...not monthly; weekly.  Yeah, they were good.  Really good.  And super fast.  My plan from now on is to multiply this recipe by 4 or 6. As long as I'm cooking up ground beef for the freezer I might as well add in the tomato paste and seasonings before bagging it up.  Then next time all I will have to do is thaw the bag, top the buns and have no dishes to clean except the baking pan.  Uh, SCORE!!!?!  The original recipe offers another freezing option, and that is to fully assemble the sandwiches, wrap in foil, and freeze.  Then they go directly into the oven for a super-simple lunch or dinner.  I may try that technique too.  That way hubby could take them to work and pop them into the little toaster oven he has there.

I served these sandwiches alongside some baby carrots leftover from my party the other night--I just cooked them in chicken broth, and added in some frozen peas.  It was filling, simple, and delicious.  This menu is a total keeper.