We’ve been eating a lot of meatballs lately. Maybe it’s the cold weather. Maybe it’s this paleo/low carb diet we’ve been trying to follow.
Maybe it’s the need to eat a healthy, starchless dinner so we can cheat a bit more on dessert.
Look at that. They are beautiful. The sauce squeezes up against them and soaks into them, making them a tender, juicy bed. I like a lot of sauce. But I’ve made them just balls without the sauce and they were good too. Nice appetizer bites.
I don’t make spaghetti with these meatballs.
At our table we like to pop them into our mouths right away, or squish our forks into their centres to expose their herby flesh, eating a half at a time.
However you choose to do it, these are good. The recipe is just a base. I’ve used wild boar sausage and it was nice and juicy, and i’ve made venison balls but they came out a little dry. But nice and lean.
So take this recipe and do what you want with it. I used sausages for the pork. I bought them from a healthy butcher and peeled off their casings. They were spiced and it gave the final product a little extra kick.
This recipe is adapted from www.everydaypaleo.com.
Mmmmmeatballs
*Preheat oven to 375′c
2 lbs ground grass-fed beef
1 lb ground pork
4 celery stalks
4 carrots, peeled
1 large onion or 2 small (i used white)
3 eggs
1/2 cup ground almonds (ground into almond meal)
A couple tablespoons of whatever herb you have fresh in the fridge
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1. Puree celery, onion, and carrot in a food processor until the mixture is finely minced. The more vegetables, the softer the texture, so I like to add more than less.
2. Get dirty. Throw all the ingredients above into a bowl. You don’t have to measure out the spices, just throw them in. I have added tarragon, an Italian spice blend, nutmeg, cloves. Nutmeg and cloves go especially well with venison. Stick your hands in and start mixing. Mmmm raw egg between the fingers never felt so good. Really mix it.
2. Form into balls. I like smaller ones I can almost fit in my mouth, but do them whatever size you fancy.
3. Line on a baking sheet.
For sauce:
1 fourteen ounce can of diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 large handful torn fresh basil or 2 tsp dried
5-6 coarsely chopped garlic cloves (halve this if you don’t like garlic as much as I)
1/2 tsp salt or more to taste
pepper to taste
1. mix the ingredients in a bowl and cover your meatballs with them. If your meatballs are smaller and you have more of them, this won’t drown them. I suggest slapping a dallop of sauce on each meatball to keep them moist as they cook.
2. Bake for 45-60 minutes, until the meatballs reach 74′c. (how do you make a celcius sign on this keyboard)
3. Eat hot out of the oven or cold the next day. Both ways are delicious. Try new meat combinations!
