Pistachio Free Sunday Sauce with Herb-Spiced Meatballs
Few Sunday meals hit the way a slow-simmered tomato sauce does, and this one earns every minute it spends on the stove. The meatballs are a blend of ground beef and pork, seasoned with fennel seeds, turmeric, parsley, and garlic — a combination that smells incredible roasting in the oven and tastes even better after they've soaked up the sauce. Almond flour stands in as the binder, keeping things tender without any wheat, and it works beautifully here. The sauce itself is built the right way: tomato paste cooked down to a deep brick-red, San Marzano tomatoes crushed by hand, and a long, low simmer that turns everything silky and rich. For anyone navigating tree nut concerns, this recipe is naturally free of pistachios — and since you're making everything from scratch, there's no guesswork about what's hiding in a jar. Finish it with torn fresh basil and a drizzle of good olive oil, and you've got a bowl that tastes like it came from a place with checkered tablecloths and no menu. This is the kind of recipe you'll want to make every week until it becomes a tradition.
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Learn more →Ingredients
6 servings
For the meatballs
- 1 lb ground beef (85% lean)
- ½ lb ground pork
- ½ cup almond flour
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
For the sauce
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 cans (28 oz each) whole peeled san marzano tomatoes
- 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
For serving
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves, torn
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling (optional)
Instructions
- 1
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.
- 2
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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