Meatball Sliders

Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1 celery, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 (28 ounce) cans whole tomatoes with juice, pureed
• 3 cups coarse fresh breadcrumbs (6 slices sandwich bread)
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk (carnation)
• 2 lbs lean ground beef
• 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 2 eggs
• 20 small dinner rolls, split and cut in half horizontally

Recipe

• 1 sauce:.
• 2 heat oil in a large, deep nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. add next 5 ingredients and cook gently for 5-8 minutes until vegetables are tender. add tomatoes and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally until thickened, about 30 minutes.
• 3 meatballs:.
• 4 while the sauce is cooking, stir together breadcrumbs and milk in a large bowl and let sit for 20 minutes. add meat, cheese, mustard, eggs. blend until combined. shape into 40 balls (about the size of golf balls). gently add meatballs to thickened sauce. cover and cook on medium-low heat for 1 hour, or until meatballs are cooked. stir occasionally to coat with sauce.
• 5 assembly:.
• 6 assemble sliders with a meatball and 1 tablespoons sauce per bun, securing each with a pick.
• 7 tips: to make fresh breadcrumbs, place bread in a food processor or blender. pulse on/off until you have crumbs. do not overprocess.
• 8 you can also serve the sauce and meatballs with pasta as a main course with rice or pasta.