Meatball Sliders

I've really taken to saucy meatball sliders. Hot, hearty and ever so cheesy.

It's a great party bite, or a quick and easy weeknight meal. If serving on the buffet, keep the meatballs warm simmering in marina in the bowl of a crockpot. Serve with a big basket of toasty slider rolls and a pile of sliced mozzarella so guests can build their own. Same basic equation for a family dinner: garlic toast roll + hot, saucy meatball + melty cheese. Boom.

What's not to love? To cut through the cheese factor, I like to punch up the flavor of these meatballs with fresh herbs and spicy Calabrian chili paste. These meatballs are medium to mild. So if you like living on the edge, I'd amp up the chili paste.

Meatball Sliders

Ingredients

For the meatballs

· 1 tbsp olive oil

· 1/3 cup onion, diced fine

· 1 garlic clove, minced

· 1/3 cup bread crumbs

· 1/3 cup pecorino romano cheese, grated

· 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

· 2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

· 1 tbsp Calabrian chili paste

· 1 egg

· ½ tsp salt

· ¼ tsp black pepper

· 1lb lean ground beef or turkey

For the sliders

· 2 cup marinara sauce

· 6-8 slider rolls

· 1 tbsp butter, softened

· garlic powder

· dried oregano

· 6-8 slices mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 425F.

Add olive oil to a small pan and sautee onions and garlic over low heat until translucent. Allow to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the onions, garlic, bread crumbs, cheese, parsley, basil, chili paste, egg, salt and pepper. Add the ground beef or turkey. Fold the bread crumb mixture evenly into the meat.

Depending on the size of your slider rolls, divide the meat mixture into 6-8 equal balls. Bake on a greased sheet pan for about 15 minutes.

Add the marinara sauce to a medium pot and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the cooked meatballs to the sauce. Simmer the meatballs in the sauce for at least 20 minutes.

While simmering the meatballs, prepare the rolls. Slice each roll in half and place on a greased sheet pan cut-side up. Spread each roll with butter. Sprinkle liberally with garlic powder and dried oregano.

Place meatballs on another greased sheet pan. Top each meatball with a slice of mozzarella.

Return both pans to the oven for about 5-7 minutes to allow the rolls to toast and the cheese to melt.

Top each roll with a meatball and serve with additional sauce on the side for dipping.

Serves 3-4

Notes

Whip up a big batch of meatballs and freeze before simmering in the tomato sauce. They keep well in gallon-size Ziploc bags and reheat well in tomato sauce.

Gluten Free Friendly!

We prefer Schar GF Ciabatta rolls for these slides.