This is a combination of a couple of recipes. The meatballs come from ATK (America's Test Kitchen) and the idea for the sliders comes from Allrecipes.com. The meatball recipe makes a huge batch, probably about 80 one and a half inch meatballs. I made a whole batch, cooked 24 for the sliders and then flash froze the rest. Alternatively, you could scale the recipe down. I have a feeling this will be a game day favorite.
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 2 1/4 cups (about 6 ounces) panko bread crumbs
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, (see note)
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 lbs 85% lean ground beef
- 1 lbs ground pork
- 6 oz thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped fine
- 3 oz parmesan cheese (freshly grated) (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 6 tbsp minced fresh parsley leaves
- 3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 tbsp)
- salt
- pepper
Sliders
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 5 tbsp butter
- 24 dinner rolls (I used the savory butter flavor of King's Hawaiian rolls)
- 2 cups spicy tomato sauce (I just used good jarred marinara spiced up with some red pepper flakes)
- 1 cup shredded fontina cheese, divided
- 3 tbsp freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano chesse
- minced parsley for garnish
Instructions
- FOR THE MEATBALLS: Place wire racks in 1-2 foil-lined rimmed baking sheets (depending on how many meatballs you opt to cook). Adjust oven racks to lower-middle and upper-middle positions and heat oven to 450°. Combine bread crumbs and buttermilk in large bowl and let sit, mashing occasionally with fork, until smooth paste forms, about 10 minutes.Add eggs, beef, pork, prosciutto, Parmesan, parsley, garlic, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper to bread-crumb mixture. Using hands, gently mix until thoroughly combined. Lightly form about into 1 1/2-inch round meatballs; repeat with remaining mixture to form approximately 80 meatballs.Spray wire racks with nonstick cooking spray and place meatballs, evenly spaced, on racks; roast until browned, about 24 minutes, rotating trays from front to back and top to bottom halfway through.Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add remaining minced garlic once butter starts to bubble; stir, then immediately remove from heat. Stir well and set aside.Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Transfer rolls, still attached, to the baking sheet. Cut a hole in the top of each roll, about 2/3 of the way down. Brush garlic butter over the insides and outsides of the rolls.Bake until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Pour about 1 tablespoon tomato sauce into each hole. Stuff meatballs into the holes. Top each roll with a spoonful of tomato sauce and fontina cheese. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.Continue baking until cheese is melted, 12 to 15 minutes. Garnish with parsley. Let rolls sit for 5 to 10 minutes to firm up; transfer to a serving platter.HAPPY EATING!!
