This post is in partnership with Cramer Farm, a family-run farm and CSA in Howard, PA offering super high quality produce, pork, chicken, eggs, and baked goods.

Well if these aren’t the cutest little meatball subs I have ever seen! And they aren’t cute just because they are mini. They are cute because GARLIC BREAD is always cute. And it takes a few extra steps to turn those buns into garlic bread, but IMO, very worth it.

You might find it hard to believe that I don’t actually have a “go-to-Maria-Makes” meatball recipe! I usually start with this one from NY Times Cooking, Meatballs With Any Meat! I modify them according to whatever flavor combo I’m looking for, but this is a SOLID base recipe for seriously any meatball. So today… Meatballs With Any Meat = Meatballs With Cramer Farm Ground Pork.

You can really make this recipe as homemade or semi-homemade-with-sandra-lee as you want.

If you’re feeling super extra homemade, make your own garlic bread and tomato sauce (heck, make your own rolls if you want!).
If extra steps aren’t your thing, buy a jar of spaghetti sauce and box of Texas Toast garlic bread and call it a day!
BUT… get some ground pork from Cramer Farm and make those homemade meatballs! Actually, make a double batch so you can freeze some for later.
I used unseasoned ground pork, but you could also use pre-seasoned Italian sausage or really any other ground meat.

How to Order from Cramer Farm:

Cramer Farm is a small-scale family farm and CSA in Nittany Valley, Centre County. I’ve known the Cramers (Bruce, Diane, and Lucy) for about 6 years now. Bruce is an amazingly talented photographer and I have gotten to know him through our work together for many nonprofits, both in our community and for higher education and healthcare clients across the country.

Every Cramer pork product I have tried (and now, with this photography project, I’ve tried them ALL) are of the absolute highest quality. And the only way to get your hands on some is to pre-order for pick-up at the Bellefonte Farmer’s Market OR at their beautiful 4-acre farm!

You can pre-order online in a few easy steps:

Visit the online store, either directly (https://www.localline.ca/cramer-farm) or embedded in Cramer Farm’s website (https://cramerfarm.com/store/). The “store” is open for orders from Tuesday at 5pm until noon on Thursday.
Create an account through the web store, hosted by Local Line.
Select your items and add to your cart, just as you would with other online shopping!
Choose your payment option and whether you’d like to pick up at the Gamble Mill or at Cramer Farm in Howard. Set your pick-up date for this coming Saturday.
Place your order!

Please note that this market is local to Centre County and you should only place a pre-order if you’ll be able to pick up your haul in Bellefonte on Saturday mornings (there’s also an option to do pick-up at the farm!)

GARLIC BREAD MINI MEATBALL SUBS

MAKES: 4 servings // TIME: 30 min

Ingredients:

Garlic Bread Rolls:

4 Tbsp olive oil

4 Tbsp butter

4 cloves garlic, minced

mini sub rolls / hoagie rolls, insides cut out and reserved to make toasted breadcrumbs

Meatballs:

olive oil

1 small onion, minced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 pound ground pork (or whatever meat you have on hand)

1/2 cup of garlic breadcrumbs (reserved from garlic bread) or panko breadcrumbs

1 egg

Sauce:

This is my go-to sauce recipe: Thick & Hearty Meat Sauce. If I’m making it for meatballs, I just leave out the ground beef!

If you don’t want to make sauce, just pop open a jar of whatever you have on hand. This is why I like to freeze garden tomato sauce in the summer!

Instructions:

How to make the Garlic Bread Rolls / Garlic Breadcrumbs:

If you’re doing the whole garlic bread rolls thing, you’ll want to with the garlic bread / garlic breadcrumbs so you have them ready to throw into the meatball mix.

Chop up your garlic. Might as well chop all 8 garlic cloves at once and save half for the meatball mix in the next section!
Cut the “middles” out of the rolls (see reference pic in the slideshow below!). We’ll use those insides to make garlic breadcrumbs for the meatballs and to top the subs.)
Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the butter and olive oil. Add the minced garlic and keep it at a low controlled simmer… keep a close eye because we don’t want any brown/bitter/burnt garlic! (check the pics below, mine got a little too toasty). After about 5 min, the garlic should have infused the oil with tons of garlic flavor.
Brush the garlic butter/oil on the exposed cut sides of the rolls. Toast them either by popping them under the broiler, in your air fryer, or just in the regular oven for a bit.
Toss the roll innards into the skillet to toast with the rest of the garlic butter/oil. Let the breadcrumbs get nice and crispy then remove them to a paper towel to cool. We’ll use these in the meatballs AND to sprinkle on top at the end!

How to make the meatballs:

Preaheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Heat the same skillet you used for the garlic breadcrumbs over medium. Add a drizzle of olive oil and cook minced onion for about 5 min. Add in the garlic and cook for 2 min-or-so longer. Add red wine vinegar, salt, smoked paprika, and black pepper.
In a large bowl, combine ground pork, 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs (garlic ones from previous step or regular panko), 1 egg, and seasoned onions and garlic mixture.
Combine loosely, don’t over mix. Using a cookie dough scoop, scoop out onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, until internal temp reaches 160 degrees. Then nestle them in some sauce and get ready to build your sandwiches!

Assemble the sandwiches:

Nestle two meatballs into one of the garlic bread buns.
Add some extra sauce and top with parmesan cheese and the toasted garlic breadcrumbs! Fresh herbs like parsley or chives if you want!
Devour and be happy.

[I’M TRYING SOMETHING NEW BELOW: INCLUDING A BUNCH OF COOKING PROCESS PICS!
LET ME KNOW IF THIS IS HELPFUL TO YOU IN THE COMMENTS!]