Meatball Sliders

So sorry, I really tried to wait before taking a bite — I failed in that attempt. In staying with my recent need for comfort foods, not many things are more comforting than homemade meatballs in a warm homemade sauce. Turning this classic dish into a fun finger food seems to make it that much more fun and comforting.

Now when I make meatballs, it's a really simple process:

Equal parts ground pork and ground sirloin. Mix in chopped onion, parsley, and garlic I then add two tablespoons of tomato paste. Sprinkle with salt and fresh ground pepper, then mix to combine all ingredients. Now the only trick is not to roll the balls tight. You just want to roll them enough so the ingredients stick together lightly forming a ball (otherwise your meatballs will be dry and tough). An additional note — make a meatball! I am talking a nice 2-3 inch ball since we are making sliders here.

Once the meatballs are made, make your preference of spaghetti sauce. I would even suggest referring back to my feature over on Ellwood Thompson's site where I created this simple sauce. While your sauce begins to simmer, place meatballs in a 375 degree oven on a cookie sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes (until browned). Some people pan fry the meatballs, I prefer baking.

Once they have baked, take them out of the oven and place them in the simmering sauce — tossing to coat for another 20 minutes. Apply a little sauce to the bottom of a dinner roll, place a meatball on top, sprinkle with cheese, and top with arugula. This happened to be fresh from the 17 Apart garden. Plan on eating 4-5 of these in one sitting.


So there you have it — meatball sliders. It's going to be cool this weekend, what are you plans for comfort food? Let me know if you make it meatball sliders!

E.A.T. local E.A.T. well