GF Italian Meatballs

I don’t know where the time goes. I meant to write this post right after posting the marinara sauce recipe. Interruptions seem inevitable, but I finally found a few minutes to get this posted. It, like the marinara sauce, came from Scratch.Love’s blog. Because she is Italian, her recipe is the real deal. And while I was born in Rome (yes, Italy), I was the proverbial “Army brat.” We left when I was 2 and my mom used to say she was the only mother on the ship returning home that was cutting up her kid’s spaghetti for them. So much for Italiano. Here’s me in Rome:

It may seem as though I am simply copying Scratch.Love’s recipes. I guess you could say that, but I try to offer a tweak or two, just to change things up. And even when I think I’ve come up with something original, a quick Google search shows me that there really is nothing new under the sun. So, in essence, all of my recipes come from somewhere and I always try to give credit where credit is due.

The biggest change to this recipe is that I’ve made it gluten free. I did this by replacing the breadcrumbs with almond flour. I’ve found this works fairly well in many recipes and I use it sometimes to replace oats in my meatloaf or crackers in my salmon patties. The other change, which I made by reason of availability, is that I used dried parsley, something no self-respecting Italian would ever do. (Sorry, Elizabeth! I wasn’t able to get out and get fresh!) Lastly, I used some dried basil, since I ran out of dried parsley! With explanations laid out, I now give you:

Gluten-free Italian Meatballs
makes approximately 45 meatballs

2 lbs grass-fed ground meat (I used a beef/sausage mix)
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup almond flour
2 Tbs each dried parsley and dried basil
1 large onion, finely diced
4 fresh eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
Marinara sauce for simmering (optional)

Measure almond flour, parsley, basil, diced onion, salt and pepper into a bowl.

Mix well.

Add 4 pastured eggs.

Mix well.

Add grated cheese and meat.

Mix well. Shape into evenly sized balls and place on a parchment-lined baking pan. I got 45.

Bake at 375^o for 45 minutes to an hour (depending on size of meatballs).

Place in a large sauce pot or crockpot and cover with marinara sauce. Simmer on very low for 4-6 hours (or a minimum of 2). Serve and enjoy!

To further prove Solomon’s words, that there is nothing new under the sun, I now see that Scratch.Love has a gluten-free meatball recipe, as well! So, for an alternate version, visit her recipe here.

This post is part of the Monday Mania blog carnival.

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