Parmesan Basil Meatballs with Roasted Vegetable Pasta Sauce

Last night while the guys were finishing up at their hockey tournament, I came home early to tend to the dog and do some cooking!  With a bunch of stuff in the fridge, I created a delicious roasted vegetable pasta sauce.  The carrot and red bell pepper give this sauce such a sweetness - it's so nice and mild!  This is a great sauce to make when you have a bunch of tomatoes on "the verge" of being over-ripe and it freezes awesome too!  Today Nick and I made the meatballs and our Sunday dinner has come together in a snap!

Parmesan Basil Meatballs with Roasted Vegetable Pasta Sauce
Sauce Ingredients:
7-8 small cocktail tomatoes, halved
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
1 small onion, quartered
1 carrot, peeled and cut into chunks
3-4 super sweet baby red bell peppers, seeded and halved
3 tbsp olive oil
2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed and stems discarded
sea salt & freshly ground pepper

Meatball Ingredients:
3/4 lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 small onion
3 cloves garlic
handful fresh basil leaves
salt & pepper

Method:
For the sauce, preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a baking dish.  Shove in the oven for about 45 minutes, stirring halway thru. 

...20 minutes of cooking later....

Let cool slightly and add to the food processor - pulse until desired chunkiness (or non-chunkiness) is achieved.  Store in air-tight container until ready to eat. 

To make the meatballs, pulse the oatmeal and parmesan in a mini food processor.  Transfer to another bowl.  In the same processor, finely chop the onion, garlic & basil.  Add to the oatmeal mixture and stir to combine.  Add the ground beef and mix with your hands.  Season with salt and pepper. 

Line a cookie sheet with baking paper & preheat your oven to 375degrees..  Form the meat mixture into little meat-balls (I think they were about 1 1/2 tbsp each) and spread out on the prepared cookie sheet.  Bake for about 25 minutes and remove to paper towels.

When it's time for dinner, add the sauce to a large saucepan and spoon the meatballs into the sauce.  Cook on low with the lid on for about 30 minutes, stirring occassionally - this ensures that the meatballs really take on that sauce!  Serve overtop your favourite spaghetti and top with some freshly grated parmesan.  Today I found the cutest product:



Tre Stelle Twist & Shave!