Tomato-Roasted Red Pepper Meatball Sliders

Gather the ingredients.

To prepare the sauce, heat oil in a large pot, add onion, and saute on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.  

Using your hands or a fork, crush tomatoes into smaller chunks. Add half of the reserved tomato juice, chicken broth, and crushed tomatoes. Let simmer for 5 minutes.

Add roasted red pepper, balsamic vinegar, basil, salt, and pepper. Simmer sauce on medium-low for 15 minutes. If sauce becomes too dry, add remaining tomato juice. Taste sauce and make adjustments if needed.  

If you want a smooth sauce, transfer mixture to a food processor. Pulse 10 to 15 times. The sauce should have some texture to it and not be completely pureed. Add sauce back to the pot and keep warm until meatballs have finished cooking. Leave mixture as is if you prefer a chunkier consistency.

The sauce can be made a day ahead and reheated while meatballs are on the grill. 

Preheat the grill for medium-high heat. Combine ground beef with cornmeal, ketchup, onion powder, salt, and black pepper. Form into 2 1/2-inch meatballs. Gently thread 2 to 3 meatballs onto each skewer.

Oil the grill grate well and place meatballs on the grill. Cook for 12 to 14 minutes, turning 1/4 turn every 2 minutes. Once cooked through, remove from heat.

Remove meatballs from the skewers and add to the pot with tomato-red pepper sauce. Coat meatballs well in sauce.  

Place arugula onto bottom half of each slider bun (or dinner roll), add meatballs, extra sauce, and grated Parmesan. Top with remaining bun half.  You can toast the buns if you'd prefer.