This was one of the first recipes that Melissa d’Arabian made on her show after winning The Next Food Network Star, and it has been one of our favorites ever since.

It’s really delicious, and I usually have most of the ingredients on hand.  It can be modified to accommodate whatever you have in your fridge.  For example, last night I made the following substitutions:

Red wine instead of white
Green olives stuffed with garlic instead of regular olives)
Fire-roasted tomatoes instead of regular
Dried cranberries instead of dates
Whole wheat cous cous instead of regular

The only thing that I always change when making this recipe is that I bake my meatballs in the oven, at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes, instead of pan-frying them. While the meatballs bake, I make the sauce, then I simmer the browned meatballs in the sauce for 20 or minutes.

I am not going to re-post the recipe because I always use hers and make different modifications each time.  I can promise you that the results will be delicious, though!