I had a version of these meatballs at a golf club recently, and they were pretty dang yummy. Now this is my take on it. They didn’t have the sun-dried tomatoes, but rather golden raisins. I thought my family would think me cray-cray if I put them in the meatballs, so I figured the sweetness of the sundried tomatoes would work in its place.

2 lbs Hamburger
1 lb sweet Italian sausage
1 small jar sun dried tomatoes
2/3 cup pine nuts
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs
½ cup tomato sauce
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic salt
½ tsp garlic powder (or mixed garlic seasoning – mine is roasted garlic and onion)

Chop up the pine nuts and dice the sun-dried tomatoes. Mix all the ingredients together and form into meatballs. Mine were usually about 1/3 cup per meatball.

Next, mix together for sauce:

1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can of water, sloshing out the insides of the cans to get the rest of the sauce
2TBS tomato paste
1 TBS Balsamic vinegar
4-5 fresh tomatoes – grated down to the skins
1 tsp Italian seasoning
½ tsp garlic salt
1 tsp Parsley
¼ tsp red pepper flakes

Now put some of the pasta sauce at the bottom of the crock pot insert. Layer meatballs and sauce, pouring the remaining sauce on top at the end. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. They are ready to eat with some garlic bread, pasta, in a sub, etc.