We really don’t miss pasta when we see a plate full of tasty meatballs in front of us. Especially covered with a rich Italian tomato sauce. If you want to avoid almond meal you could use a couple of okra to bind the meatballs.
Gusto Paleo's Italian Meatballs and Sauce
2015-03-26 13:59:14
Serves 4
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
1 hr 40 min
Ingredients
- 500 grams (1.1lbs) of grass fed beef mince
- 1 carrot peeled and chopped
- 1 onion peeled and cut in half
- 1 garlic clove peeled
- 4 small button mushrooms
- 1 cup of shredded sweet potato
- hand full of baby spinach leaves
- 1 tender celery stalk
- bunch of fresh parsley
- 1 tsp tomato paste
- 1 free range egg
- 1/2 cup parmesan (avoid if on whole30) optional
- 1/2 cup of almond meal mixed with sea salt, cracked pepper and 2 tbls water plus spices of your choice
For the sauce
- 750mls of Tomato Passata. (Sugar free)
- 1 garlic crushed
- 1/2 onion chopped
- small carrot chopped
- small celery chopped
- olive oil
- sea salt
For the sauce
- In a sauce pan heat the oil and saute the onion and garlic. Add the carrot and celery, saute until soft.
- Add the tomato passata and season. I always add a little water to the bottle to get out all the passata and add it to the pan once it starts to boil. Simmer on low for 30 minutes with the lid on.
For the meatballs
- In a hand blender I added the carrot, onion, garlic, mushrooms, sweet potato, spinach, celery and parsley and pulsed it to chop up all ingredients finely for the meatballs, place in a large bowl.
- Add the beef, egg and chopped ingredients into a large bowl. Mix altogether with the almond meal mixture and parmesan (optional) with your hands.
- Roll mince into meatballs with hands and lay on a lined baking tray or you can fry them straight away to seal them, don't overcook them. I cooked them for 10 min in a preheated oven at 180 degrees (356F) to keep their shape.
- Add the browned meatballs to the pan once it has simmered for 30 minutes. Bring heat to low and cover. Stir once in a while and cook for 1 hour or until sauce thickens.
- You should end up with moist meatballs in a thick tasty sauce.
Gusto Paleo https://gustopaleo.com/
