gluten-free Swedish meatballs

{image credit: andy pucko}

No spaghetti around here, but these meatballs are well loved. In fact, they're the only reason I have a bottle of Worcestershire sauce in the fridge.

I posted the original recipe a while ago and since then I've figured out how to eliminate grains altogether: almond meal! I also added some minced bell pepper, which is really nice. And man, do I wish I had a camera. The meatballs looked so enticing coming out of the oven, coppery-brown and succulent (is that an acceptable adjective for meatball description?). I confess to popping a few in my mouth right away. You will just have to trust me on how good these are; this borrowed photograph is not precisely accurate, as my sauce is lighter in color, but it gives you an idea.

The recipe looks long but doesn't take much time (though more time if you double or triple it, of course, since you have to stand there and roll each meatball out).

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GF Swedish Meatballs

meatballs: 
1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground turkey
3/4 cup almond meal
1/3 cup minced onion
1/3 cup minced bell pepper
1 large egg
1/3 cup whole milk
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce

gravy:
chicken or beef stock
whole milk or cream
arrowroot starch
salt to taste

mashed potatoes:
if you don't know how to make these, go here
but I don't peel them
because I am a lazypants about peeling
and the skins have lots of nutrition anyway.

1) Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease two 9x13 pans.
2) In stand mixer or in large mixing bowl, combine meatball ingredients. Add a bit more milk if needed (up to 1/2 cup total). Mixture should be somewhat sticky but still able to be shaped.
3) Roll into balls of one-inch diameter and place in single layer on prepared pans. Don't let them touch; you may need to do two batches. Bake 15 minutes. Let cool before freezing or refrigerating, though of course you can use them immediately.
4) Now for the mashed-potatoes-and-cream-gravy of glory. Get the potatoes boiling. In the meantime, tip as many meatballs as you want into a large saucepan; for us, I'd use half and freeze the others. Add chicken stock and milk in a 3:1 ratio. Use as much as you want--if you like tons of sauce, awesome--but before you pour it into the saucepan, whisk in some arrowroot starch, 1 tablespoon per cup of liquid.
5) Bring the sauce to a boil, stirring often, then reduce to a simmer and cook until meatballs are heated through and gravy is thick and glossy. Add more arrowroot, dissolved in equal parts liquid, if you need the sauce to get thicker. Salt to taste.
6) Finish up your mashed potatoes and serve it all up together, with a fresh green salad on the side. Potatoes on the bottom, meatballs spooned over top with copious amounts of gravy.

Shared on Simple Lives Thursday