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Gluten-Free Meatballs and Spaghetti

Your spaghetti and meatballs craving, satisfied.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Main Course
Servings: 6

Ingredients

For the sauce

  • 2 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons fresh basil, diced (2 teaspoons if using dried)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon anchovy paste
  • ¼ teaspoon sugar
  • 1 cup onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced

For the meatballs

  • ⅓ cup plain yogurt, preferably Greek
  • 1 tablespoon water (exclude if using traditional yogurt instead of Greek)
  • ¼ cup almond meal or almond flour
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • ⅓ pound mild Italian ground pork
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped fine (or 2 teaspoons dried)
  • ¼ cup Parmesan, finely grated
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • Canola or other neutral oil

For the spaghetti

  • Water
  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 1 pound gluten-free spaghetti
  • Grated Parmesan for serving

Instructions

  • Get the sauce started first so flavor has time to develop: Combine tomatoes, basil, salt, anchovy paste and sugar in a large pot and heat over medium. Stir well and allow it to simmer away. (For a simplified version with pre-made sauce, see notes.)
  • While sauce is cooking, combine yogurt, water and almond meal/flour in medium bowl and stir well. Mixture should be the consistency of thin batter. If it seems too thick, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Add remaining meatball ingredients except the oil and mix with hands until mixture is uniform in appearance and parsley is visible throughout.
  • Form meatballs about 1 ¼ inches in diameter with cupped hands in a rolling motion. You should end up with about 16 meatballs, but don’t worry if you end up with more or fewer – uniform size is the most important thing here.
  • Take a minute here to check on your sauce – give it a good stir and reduce heat slightly if it’s bubbling too aggressively.
  • Heat canola or other oil in a 12-inch cast-iron or saute pan over medium-high heat. The oil should completely cover the bottom of the pan, about ¼ inch deep. When oil starts to smoke, add in half the meatballs, taking care to space them evenly to avoid crowding. Cook about 10 minutes, turning meatballs with tongs roughly every 3 minutes to ensure an even cook. Meatballs should have a dark, crusty exterior. Set cooked meatballs aside on a paper-towel lined plate. Cook remaining meatballs in same oil (adding more if necessary) and set side.
  • Reduce heat under meatball pan to medium and pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat. Add onions and cook about 7 minutes, scraping up any browned bits from the meatballs. When onions start to look translucent, add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add onions and garlic to sauce and stir. Taste sauce and add salt or pepper to taste. If sauce is too acidic, add a pinch of sugar. Add meatballs to sauce and stir carefully, ensuring each meatball is coated in sauce. Turn heat to medium-low to ensure meatballs stay hot while you cook the pasta.
  • Fill a large stockpot with liberally salted water and cook spaghetti according to package directions. Once pasta is cooked to your liking, drain and give it a drizzle of olive oil.
  • Taste sauce again and adjust salt, pepper or sugar if needed.
  • Serve meatballs and sauce over pasta, and sprinkle a small (or large) heap of Parmesan on top. Enjoy!

Notes

If you don’t have time to make sauce from scratch, just follow steps 2, 3 and 5, and then combine jarred sauce with meatballs in a pot over medium heat. When sauce is hot, serve!