These meatballs have become one of my go-to meals lately. They are excellent served alone alongside roasted or pureed vegetables, reheated the next day for lunch, and are easy for my toddler to eat. Sage is a safe spice to include on AIP, so I decided to see how it pairs with beef one day. SO YUMMY! I don’t know how I have been cooking all these years without knowing about this earthy, aromatic pairing.
1 lb grass-fed ground beef, 80% fat
1 onion, diced
1 celery stick, diced
1 and 1/2 tsp. sage, ground
1 tsp. garlic granules
1/2 tsp. sea salt
sea salt
2 T. pastured lard or extra virgin coconut oil
Preheat oven to 350 F and line a half sheet pan with parchment.
In a saute pan, over medium-low heat, place lard and onion, sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt. Cook onion until translucent. Add celery, a pinch of sea salt, and continue cooking until soft. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
In a mixing bowl, add onion and celery mixture, ground beef, sage, garlic, and 1/2 tsp. of sea salt. With your hands, squish and squeeze the ground beef so that the spices and flavorings really gets incorporated well.
Pinch off about an ounce of meat and roll between palms to make a solid ball. Place on sheet pan. Keep going with this until all of the meat is rolled into balls. They should be place evenly on the sheet pan so that space is between each, this allows for even cooking. I usually end up with 14-16 meatballs.
Place in the oven at 350 F for 12-15 minutes. Allow to cool a few minutes before serving.
Real Food, Real Health 