If there’s anything better than meatballs it might just be sun-dried tomato meatballs. When dried and preserved in oil the flavor of tomatoes intensifies and makes a great addition to all kinds of dishes. In this recipe we’re adding the chopped tomatoes to the meatballs themselves, but also using a bit of the oil the tomatoes come in to flavor the rest of the dish, too. It all comes together to be one tasty recipe, with succulent meatballs and a silky sauce to go with.

To get started we have to make the meatballs. You can use all beef as this recipe reads, or use 50/50 beef and pork. Or make it healthier by using ground turkey.

Then mix the meat with the tomatoes, some parmesan cheese, and lots of spices- including some fresh basil. This recipe makes about 18 large meatballs, which is 8 generous portions or 10 smaller portions.

Cook the meatballs in the bottom of a big pot before adding the sauce ingredients. The sauce is a really simple one, but very tasty. In addition to the extra tomato oil, there’s also some fresh mozzarella pearls in the sauce for even more flavor.

Between the cheese in the meatballs and in the sauce, you don’t need any extra at the table. But, of course you can serve some parmesan with these meatballs if you want! I like to serve these big meatballs with some thick spaghetti, but other pasta will work, too.

Add a side salad or some garlic bread and you’ve got this meal ready to go. The sweetness and the flavor the tomatoes add to the meat means that these meatballs turn out even tastier than traditional meatball recipes. And that’s really saying something.