Nana's Italian Meatballs in Pasta Sauce

This weekend were the kart races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course so we get the pleasure of providing dinner for my parent's race team a couple nights. The second evening they were here we had a spaghetti dinner which everyone enjoyed, Patti's (aka. Nana) specialty.  After a long practice day they went back to the motel tired but full.

Patti, Samuel and I had some errands to run during the day so she made the sauce in my crock pot in the morning and left it to simmer all day.
Serves 10
2  26oz cans of tomato sauce
2 6 oz can of tomato paste
1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 tablespoons salt
dash pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1 bay leaf, remove before serving
Put all this in the crock pot and simmer on high at least 4 hours.

When we were home again she mixed up the meatballs.
2 # ground sirloin
1 cup oatmeal
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 small onion, minced
1 tablespoon salt
dash pepper
1 egg
Put all this in a large bowl and mix.

Preheat the oven to 350F before you stick your hands in the meat (I am a sissy so I use a spoon).
Roll into 2 inch balls.

Place on an ungreased sheet pan in neat rows, very nice.

Bake for 30 minutes or until they are just starting to brown.

Then put them into the sauce.

Cover again and cook until the rest of the meal is finished.
My son and I can't/ shouldn't have wheat so we use spelt pasta which is very close to wheat, you use your favorite spaghetti. For this amount of sauce we used 1 1/2# of pasta. Cook according to package directions and drain. Ladle sauce and meatballs over hot pasta.
Serve with salad and garlic bread (see this blog for garlic bread and salad dressing).

This year they had a whole new group with them, I always enjoy meeting the people Dad and Patti work and play with all year. This year was no exception, a really great group of people and congratulations to Todd who took home two very large eagles along with a few lumps!