Meatballs – That even I can eat (AIP)
- 1 lb ground beef, lamb, or pork (or a mix of 2 or all three)
- 1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
- 1/2 tbsp minced fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp sea salt and black pepper
- 1/4 cup coarse ground cassava (Farinha de mandioca)
- 1/4 cup beef broth or bone broth
- Rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper
I love meatballs just as much as the next guy and can’t tell you how many times I’ve found myself salivating over the menu at an Italian bistro or while standing in front of the meatball pyramid at Whole Foods. Just hoping, praying, and wishing that today would be the day someone would make them without the regular breadcrumbs and eggs so oddballs like me can join in all the meatball fun. But, no such luck. Gluten-free, no problem, egg-free, sure thing but never free from both.
This week’s recipe takes eggs and breadcrumbs out of your standard meatball mix and replaces them with a coarse ground cassava flour called Farinha de Mandioca and beef broth. I like cassava here because for one it’s not a grain at all, it’s a root vegetable and two, it holds onto moisture and absorbs flavor very well.
My favorite meatball is a 50/50 combo of lamb and beef, but my wife doesn’t care much for lamb, so I made two separate batches, as you’ll see in the pics below. When cooking meatballs, you only want to bake them long enough just to be done. If you cook too long, they will quickly start to lose their fat (the yum factor). If you want to serve them in a red sauce, you could drop them in the sauce after baking to help blend the flavors. This time I served them with spaghetti squash and an alfredo sauce. I was going to give you the alfredo recipe, but it still needs some tweaking so later for that. Let’s cook
Method
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
- Add the meat, parsley, garlic, salt, basil, and cassava to a large bowl
- Very gently start mixing everything, using just your fingers. The idea is to mix and break it into small pieces without compressing the meat too much
- Now add the beef or bone broth and mix again
- Using a 1/4 measuring cup, portion out the meat, then roll into a ball in your hand. This should make 11-12 uniform meatballs
- Place on a rimmed baking sheet covered with parchment paper
- Bake for 15 minutes
- Serve hot, or cool and store in the fridge for up to 5 days. Or you can freeze them for later
- Meatballs versatility goes beyond pasta, they can be dropped in soup, chopped and tossed in a salad, packed in lunches, and they travel well
