Meatballs Bayonnaise W/ Spicy Tomato & Pepper Sauce

I found this in the March 2012 issue of Family Circle magazine and I changed a few things to make this my own. I personally think that the original was lacking in salt and spice so I added some Creole seasoning to remedy that. You can also use seasoned salt if you don't want the added spice. The meatballs came out firm and perfectly cooked after 5 1/2 hours. I think next time I will cut some red and green peppers into strips to add to the sauce along with the finely chopped peppers. I will update any changes.

• Ready In: 5 hrs 30 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• SAUCE

• 1 (28 ounce) can tomato puree
• 2  red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1  medium onion, finely chopped
• 1  pinch red pepper flakes
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons  creole seasoning (more or less to taste. You can also use seasoned salt to avoid the added spiciness)
• 1  bay leaf

• MEATBALLS

• 3⁄4 cup  crumbled  French bread or 3⁄4 cup  Italian bread
• 1⁄4 cup milk
• 1⁄3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2  lbs ground beef
• 2  tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped (the recommend flat-leaf parsley)
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  large egg
• 1  teaspoon ground cumin
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
•  fresh ground pepper

• FOR SERVING

•  cooked rice
•  freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions

1. For the sauce, stir together tomato puree, peppers, onion, salt, red pepper and bay leaf.
2. Pour half of the sauce into a slow cooker and reserve the rest.
3. For the meatballs, add milk and soak the bread for a few minutes. Lightly squeeze the bread to remove excess milk and discard milk.
4. Spread flour on a piece of wax paper.
5. In a large bowl, mix together soaked bread, ground beef, parsley, garlic, egg, cumin, marjoram, salt and pepper (to taste).
6. Moisten your hands and shape mixture into 2" balls.
7. Lightly roll meatballs in flour and transfer to the slow cooker that contains half of the sauce. Top with remaining sauce.
8. Cover and cook on LOW for 4-5 hours or until meatballs are cooked through.
9. Discard bay leaf before serving over rice with freshly grated Parmesan.