Few Sunday dinners hit the way a slow-simmered tomato sauce does, and this one — built on crushed San Marzano tomatoes, caramelized onion, and a deeply reduced tomato paste — is the kind of thing that makes the whole house smell incredible for hours. The meatballs themselves are a blend of ground beef and pork, seasoned with fennel seeds, turmeric, parsley, and garlic, then roasted at high heat before they ever touch the sauce, which gives them gorgeous color and locks in their texture. Almond flour stands in as the binder here, keeping everything tender without any breadcrumb concerns — and since every ingredient in this recipe is naturally free of peanuts and peanut derivatives, there's no label-scanning required. Cross-contact is the sneaky problem with store-bought sauces and pre-made meatballs, so cooking this entirely from scratch puts you in full control of what goes into the pot. After the meatballs nestle into the sauce for a long, low simmer, they absorb all that herby, garlicky depth and become almost impossibly tender. Finish with torn fresh basil and a drizzle of good olive oil, and you've got a bowl that feels genuinely celebratory — no shortcuts, no stress.
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Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, ground pork, almond flour, eggs, parsley, minced garlic, fennel seeds, turmeric, dried oregano, salt, and black pepper. Mix with your hands until just combined — stop as soon as no streaks remain.
Roll the meat mixture into balls about 1½ inches in diameter (roughly 24 meatballs) and arrange them in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tbsp of the olive oil and roll to coat.
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