Meatball sub

Mix the poolish, salt, yeast, olive oil and egg with the paddle until smooth.

Swap to a dough hook, add the semolina and bread flour and the water, and knead seven to 10 minutes past the windowpane test.

Proof one hour, shape, proof one hour again.

For the meatballs, soak the torn bread in the buttermilk and heavy cream and work it to a paste with no distinct pieces of bread left.

Caramelize the onions in light olive oil, add the smashed garlic, pine nuts, minced anchovy and chopped Calabrian chili.

Process the pancetta and currants to a paste, then add the onion mixture, parsley and basil and pulse together.

Grate in the Parmesan and Pecorino Romano.

Mix the paste into the panade with the dried oregano, fennel seed, lemon zest, salt, whole egg and egg yolk.

Mix the beef, pork and veal together on their own first, then work in the panade and the pepper.

Fry a sample of the mix to check the seasoning before rolling.

For the sauce, drain and process the San Marzano tomatoes.

Sweat the onion without colour, lower the heat and crush in the garlic; saute 30 seconds.

Add the tomato paste and sun-dried tomato paste and cook 30 seconds to a minute until it sticks to the pot.

Add the tomatoes and their juice; the sauce should start thinner than you want it to end.

Add the basil stems, the Parmesan rind and the halved carrot.

Simmer at a bare bubble for at least an hour, then add the meatballs and cook further.

Divide the bread dough into five equal rolls, oil the worktop, roll each into a 10-inch wide rectangle and roll up, pinching as you go.

Lay on a baking sheet lined with semolina flour and sesame seeds, cover with oiled plastic wrap and rise about an hour.

Roll the meatballs, bake them, then drop them into the sauce to let the flavours meld.

Brush, seam and slash the loaves and bake at 475; cool a solid hour before cutting.

Open the roll like a book and toast under the broiler exactly one minute.

Layer provolone on the bottom, then mozzarella, then the meatballs and basil, and heat in the oven to melt the cheese.

Wrap the sub and let it sit a few minutes to soften the bread and hold the heat.

Variation after tasting: put a little sauce on the bottom of the roll as well as the top, and compress the bread for the large meatballs.