Meatball sliders with garlic bread buns

This recipe is for little party-sized meatball sliders topped with a garlic bread bun. I've opted to top the buns with garlic butter then re-bake them to take away the raw edge and give the tops a final crisp up.

These are best straight from the oven, ready to pass around at your next gathering, dinner party, or Americana-themed event.

Aren't meatball sliders Italian?

Well, sort of.

We have Italian immigrants to the US to thank for these saucy bite-sized meals. They've brought us highlights like the New York slice, meatball subs, and vodka sauce pasta (recommend you try it with gochujang).

This recipe makes 10 sliders, because that's how big a packet of Brioche Gourmet sliders from Woolies (an Australian supermarket) is. It also means each meatball contains a neat 50 grams of meat. The perfect size for the slider buns.

https://www.tiktok.com/@cammienoodle/video/7403919066953420040?lang=en

Tips before you begin

You can pre-prepare the meatballs in advance. Just re-heat them before you place them back on the buns.
There's a bit of back and forth in the oven at the end of the recipe. Trust the process. If you place the cheesed up buns topped with garlic butter in all at once the brioche and garlic will burn before the cheese has fully melted. Who wants that?
When slicing the buns in half, make sure the bottom half is thick enough to hold up to the meatball and sauce.

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 1 hr

Total Time 1 hr 20 mins

Cooking Method: Oven

Cuisine: American, Italian

Courses: Snack

Difficulty: Intermediate

Cooking Temp: 200 C

Servings: 10

Best Season: Suitable throughout the year

Description

Baking the meatballs and sauce instead of cooking them on the stove really reduces the amount of cleaning up, and helps to thicken the red sauce without all that spluttering.

Ingredients

Meatballs

1 slice Brioche Gourmet brioche
¼ cup milk
500 g pork and beef mince blend
1 tbsp pecorino, finely grated
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

Sauce

400 ml chunky passata
1 tsp salt
6 fresh 6-8 basil leaves

To serve

10 Brioche Gourmet brioche sliders
10 thick slices mozzarella
2 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp parsley, finely chopped
2 tsp pecorino, finely grated

Instructions

1
Pre-heat oven to 220℃ (200 fan-forced)
2
In a large bowl, add the slice of brioche and milk. Allow it to sit for a few minutes until the bread is soft. Add the meat, pecorino, garlic powder, parsley, salt and pepper and mix well. I recommend using your hands or a stand mixer if you really don’t want to touch it.
3
Roll the meatball mix into 10 golf ball sized balls, and place in a small baking dish.
Make sure the baking dish is large enough to hold the sauce as well.
4
Bake for 20 minutes, then remove. Add passata, salt and basil leaves. Return to the oven and bake again for 30 minutes.
5
In a small bowl, add the butter, garlic, parsley and pecorino. Mix to combine. Slide brioche sliders in half and lay the bottoms out on a lined baking tray.
6
Remove the meatballs from the oven and place one on each brioche half. Top with a slice of mozzarella, then return to the oven for five minutes to slightly melt the cheese.
7
Remove again, then add the top of the bun and brush with the garlic butter mix. Return to the oven for an additional five minutes to slightly toast the tops of the buns.

Note

Serving clarification: this recipe makes 10 sliders.

Keywords: meatball, sliders, tomato sauce, garlic bread, bun, brioche, rolls, pork, with a twist, recipe

Read it online: https://www.cammienoodle.com/recipe/meatball-sliders-with-garlic-bread-buns/

Camellia Ling Aebischer

An experienced writer, editor, producer, and content creator. A passionate Chinese-Swiss-Australian. Obsessed with little projects, going on rants, and international grocers.