Meatballs in Almond Sauce (gluten free)

A platter of Meatballs in Almond Sauce with individual toothpicks for a party appetizer.

These gluten free meatballs are a Spanish tapa served on toothpicks or an everyday dinner. Ground almonds thicken the sauce and hold the meatballs together as a substitute for breadcrumbs.

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine Spanish

Keyword gluten free tapas, meatball tapa, meatballs in almond sauce

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1 10

Servings meatballs

Calories 46kcal

Author Cinde Little

Equipment

Portion scoops, set of 3

Ingredients

MEATBALLS

¾ cup ground almonds* (first amount) See notes
¼ cup white wine
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
2 eggs
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or 1 tablespoon dried parsley
1½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon pepper

ALMOND SAUCE

2 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 cup white wine
10 garlic cloves, peeled
1¾ cups gluten free beef stock
¼ cup ground almonds (second amount)
½ cup frozen peas
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or 2 teaspoon dried parsley
1 bay leaf
salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Make Meatballs

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper or tin foil and set aside.
Put first amount of ground almonds in a bowl and pour wine on top. Let soak while you prepare the remaining meatball ingredients.
In a large bowl evenly combine ground beef, pork, eggs, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper. Add soaked almonds and stir just until combined.
Using a small scoop form cocktail size meatballs onto lined baking tray. Makes about 80 meatballs.
Heat oil in large pan with high sides over medium-high heat. Sauté meatballs until well browned on all sides. Work in batches and don’t overcrowd the pan, remove meatballs as they are done.

Oven Cooking Method

Alternately, meatballs can be cooked on a baking tray in a 400℉ oven for 15 minutes without turning. When I do this I like to cook at least a dozen meatballs in the pan on the stove, as directed above, to ensure I get some of the juicy brown bits into my sauce.

Make Almond Sauce

Add onion and carrot to the pan, sauté until wilted, about 5 minutes.
Add white wine and whole garlic cloves stirring to scrape up the brown bits. Boil until most of the liquid has evaporated.
Stir in beef stock and ground almonds.
Add cooked meatballs along with the peas, green onions, parsley, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes.

Serving

For tapas arrange meatballs on a tray and put a frilly toothpick in each one. Serve immediately.

Notes

*Ground almonds found in the baking aisle are the same as almond flour sold with gluten free flours, often in a specialty aisle. Made from blanched almonds it should be white or ivory coloured with no flecks. Almond meal is not the same, it is made from almonds that still have the skin on.

GF Breadcrumbs substitute: Replace the almond flour in the meatballs with breadcrumbs. Savvy gluten free cooks save every precious piece of bread, half a bun or even bread that was slightly disappointing. Collect these leftovers in the freezer and use them to make fresh breadcrumbs when needed.

Nutrition