Fiction-Food Café: Meatball-stuffed Garlic Bread Pizza Rolls

"There's a fresh pasta-pizza on the table, which is another bad sign. Pasta-pizza––also known as marinara sauce, meatballs, and cheese on a garlic bread crust––is my favorite food, and Mom and Dad only order it from Dino's on special occasions, or when something really bad has happened. It's confusing, the way parents do that––there should be good news food and bad news food, so you know what you're in for."

––City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab is great spooky and atmospheric read set (mostly) in Scotland, with lots of ghosts. And a few very specific food mentions! I've posted a recipe inspired by the PB + B + CC (peanut butter, banana, chocolate chip sandwich) already––you can find it here; it's a cake!, but I thought this meatball pizza sounded yummy too, so I made it into rolls! I hope you enjoy it. :) Another food had a couple of times in the book is fish and chips, which I made previously for another book (you can find the recipe here).

Note: You can use different ground meats for this recipe, like beef or a non-meat substitute, no problem! You can also use biscuit dough if you'd like instead of pizza dough, or use your own homemade pizza dough.

Meatball-Stuffed Garlic Bread Rolls

Ingredients:
Meatballs
1/2 lb. Ground Turkey
1/2 lb. Ground Pork
1 Egg
1/3 C Shredded Parmesan
1/4 C Plain Bread Crumbs + 1/4 C more for rolling
1 tsp. packed, Minced Fresh Parsley (or 1/2 tsp. dried)
1 tsp. packed, Minced Fresh Basil (or 1/2 tsp. dried)
1 tsp. Onion Powder
1/2 tsp. Garlic Salt
1/4 tsp. Ground Pepper
~6-8 oz. pkg. Mozzarella "Cherries"/"Pearls" (small, fresh mozzarella balls. Need 16.)
Garlic Bread
13.8 oz. Pizza Dough Roll
3 Tbsp. Butter
1 tsp. Minced Fresh Parsley (or 1/2 tsp. dried)
1 tsp. Parmesan Powder (optional)
Garlic Salt, to taste (or garlic powder + salt)
Shredded Mozzarella or Parmesan (optional to melt on top of the rolls)
Warm Marinara Sauce (for dipping)

Directions:
Meatballs: Pre-heat your oven to 400ºF. Line a large baking tray with foil & spray with non-stick spray. Put 1/4 cup of plain bread crumbs into a small bowl.

In a large bowl combine all of the meatball ingredients except for the little mozzarella balls. Stir or mush together with your hands until everything is evenly distributed.

Wrap ~2 Tbsp. worth of the meat mixture around each mozzarella ball & then roll in the small bowl of bread crumbs to coat. Place on the baking tray. (You'll need 16 meatballs for the pizza dough.)

Bake for about 18-20 mins, flipping the meatballs at around 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven & set aside until needed.

Garlic Bread: Leave the oven on 400ºF. Spray a large baking tray or baking dish with non-stick spray. Cut the pizza dough roll into 16 equal pieces (cut the roll in half & then those halves in half, etc.).

One at a time, roll each dough piece into a flat disc & then wrap it around a meatball, pinching & twisting the dough closed. Place the ball, seam-side down, onto the tray or dish. You can leave space between the balls or you can have them lightly touching, either way is fine.

In a small bowl, melt the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds & then stir in the parsley & optional parmesan powder. Brush the butter mixture generously over the dough balls & sprinkle with garlic salt to your taste (you can also simply use garlic powder & salt separately).

Bake for about 12 minutes, until the rolls are starting to turn golden-brown. If you'd like to melt cheese on top, sprinkle it on the rolls in the last couple of minutes.
Serve with warmed marinara sauce for dipping.