Homemade Meatballs & Marinara Sauce

Courtesy of  paleogirls.com

Homemade meatballs AND homemade marinara sauce -- YUM! This is actually the same recipe I use for marinara sauce, but the meatballs were new! They turned out delicious, and for those interested, this dish is paleo! This dish does take a bit of time to prepare -- I think I was in the kitchen for about two hours, but I had wine to get me through, so it's all good :) You don't even need pasta for these because they are so yummy as-is. 

Marinara Sauce Ingredients (recipe inspired by Giada De Laurentiis, but tweaked a bit)

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion-diced
• 4 cloves garlic-crushed, diced, chopped…however you like it
• Bunch of basil
• 2 28 0z. cans of whole organic tomatoes with their juice
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine both cans of whole tomatoes with their juice and the bunch of basil in a food processor or blender. Pulse until smooth and set aside.  Place olive oil, onions and garlic in a saute pan and cook over medium heat until translucent and soft…about 10 minutes. Add tomato sauce, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Once boiling, let the sauce simmer on low  for about an hour.

Meatball Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 lb. ground pork (feel free to use ground turkey or chicken…whatever you feel like I am sure will work)
• 1/2 onion – diced
• 1/2 cup fresh basil
• 1/2 cup parsley
• 1 cup loose-leaf spinach
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1/2 cup tomato/marinara sauce
• 4 cloves crushed garlic
• salt and pepper to taste

Place basil, parsley, and spinach in food processor…give it a couple pulses to chop. Place all ingredients in mixing bowl and mix together…I use my hands…I find it is the best way to get everything mixed evenly. Next I use my scoop to make golf ball sized meatballs.

Cook at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.  I then place them in the sauce for another 20 minutes or so, but if you don’t want to do that, cook them for 25 minutes. This recipe made about 25 meatballs for me, and I cooked two batches of the meatballs. You can either freeze the second round, or just add them in the sauce once the first batch is done -- and you've devoured them all!