Ask and you shall receive!
I’ve been getting a lot of requests for more lunch and dinner ideas on the blog. While I love my sweets and smoothies, I focus on eating nutritionally balanced meals every day. Lately I’ve been playing around with some of my old favourite recipes. It’s always a fun challenge trying to figure out how to make them autoimmune-paleo compliant. With the weather getting cooler, I’ve been craving more warming meals like soup, chili and pasta. While there’s nothing like authentic italian cuisine, this nightshade-free zucchini pasta with meatballs is a close runner up.
This is the first recipe on my website that isn’t vegan or vegetarian. When I first started my blog a year ago, I was mostly following a plant-based diet. I dabbled in eggs and fish occasionally, but meat was pretty foreign to me. After researching about the autoimmune protocol, I decided to change my diet and lifestyle overnight. It was a huge challenge for me to shift my perspective and overcome my fears, but I knew that I had to put my health first. Fast-forward 7 months later and I’m never going back!
This recipe was inspired by many others in the AIP community. After seeing “nomato” sauce pop up in my feed on more than one occasion, my curiosity finally got the better of me. The base of this recipe is a rich tomato-less sauce made with bone broth, beets, carrots, onion, garlic and herbs. It’s topped with grassfed beef meatballs and served over zucchinni noodles. This dish is a great low-carb alternative for anyone that’s trying to watch their weight or keep blood sugar levels in check. It’s a complete source of protein, gut healing and incredibly delicious!
If you’ve ever made zucchini pasta before, you might be familiar with the term “spaghetti soup”. I’ve tried many different techniques and found that cooking always leads to soggy noodles. The key to keeping your noodles firm and crunchy is simply by leaving them raw. Some people recommend sprinkling them with salt in a colander to draw out the moisture. I skipped this step, but if you’re concerned about presentation it’s definitely worth a try. Once you add your sauce, the noodles will warm up in no time and be perfectly el dente!
What I love most about this recipe is that it’s extremely versatile. You can easily swap out the zucchini noodles for other low-carb options or something that the whole family will enjoy. I’ve tried it over baked spaghetti squash and it was just as good. If you have a picky crowd, try switching the noodles out for chickpea pasta which is also a great source of protein. My half Italian niece can’t tell the difference and the extra nutrient boost doesn’t hurt! Just make sure to keep a zucchini on hand for yourself, since legumes aren’t paleo or AIP-friendly.
- 2 large zucchini, spiralized or julienned
- 1 bunch fresh basil, chopped
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
- 2 carrots, peeled (175g)
- 3 medium red beets, peeled (485g)
- ½ yellow onion (145g)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 cups chicken bone broth
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp fine himalayan salt
- 1 lb grass-fed ground beef
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- ½ tsp fine himalayan salt
- ½ tbsp pork lard (or avocado oil)
- Using a chef's knife, roughly chop garlic, onions, carrots and beets.
- In a large saucepan, heat olive oil on medium heat. Add onions and sauté for 5 minutes.
- Add beets, carrots, and garlic and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
- Add bone broth, oregano, thyme and himalayan salt and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes.
- Using an immersion blender, puree until sauce is thick and creamy (alternatively, you can transfer to a high speed blender). Set aside.
- Using your hands, combine ground beef, parsley and himalayan salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Scoop out portions with an ice cream scoop and form into meatballs (about 16-18).
- Heat pork lard in a large frying pan over medium heat. Place meat balls onto the pan and brown for 2 minutes per side.
- Pour no-mato sauce evenly onto the pan. Cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.
- Serve over zucchini noodles and garnish with fresh basil and nutritional yeast.
A huge shout out to Ballarini for sending me this non-stick fry pan (pictured above). It’s already become one of my staple kitchen tools and I highly recommend it. It’s great quality, good value and comes with a 10 year warranty. I’ll link it here for anyone that’s interested in checking out their cookware. Stay tuned for some more awesome pieces from Staub and Zwilling!
Have you ever tried zucchini pasta? What did you think of it? Let me know if you try this recipe at home. Leave a comment below or share your photos on Instagram with @wholeheart.nutrition.
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