Beef and Mushroom Meatball Sliders

(NC) Living Lou is a popular Canadian food blogger with an expertise in cooking and baking – and she also brings a youthful, innovative approach to the kitchen.

    “I wanted to lighten up my favourite meatball sliders and using the ‘blend and extend’ method is the perfect way to do this,” Louisa points out. “Who would think that finely chopped mushrooms would blend in seamlessly with ground beef? It’s quite the revelation and something that I’ve been using in all sorts of recipes. Not only does it add volume, vitamins and minerals to dishes, it makes eating beef more affordable.”

    Sliders are great, she adds, for feeding a crowd and are especially kid friendly. These sliders are a little on the spicy side, but you can omit the red pepper flakes if you want to keep things a bit milder.

Makes 12

Ingredients:

4 oz white button mushrooms

1 clove garlic, minced

1 lb lean ground beef

1/3 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 egg

2 tbsp +1/4 cup barbecue sauce

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes  (can omit)

Directions:

    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet with olive oil.

    2. In a food processor, process mushrooms and garlic.

    3. In a large bowl, combine mushroom mixture with beef, bread crumbs, parsley, egg, 2 tbsp barbecue sauce and red pepper flakes.

    4. Using a standard ice cream scoop, scoop mixture into 12 even meatballs.

    5. Brush with remaining ¼ cup of barbecue sauce.

    6. Bake in oven for 35-45 minutes or until fully cooked.

More information and recipe ideas can be found atwww.mushrooms.ca.