Crunchy Nut Meatballs
One of the richest dietary sources for selenium, the brazil nut is a vital mineral for human health.
“Did you know the Brazil nut is actually a seed?” says Miss 9 as she’s scoffing these down (dipping into a garlic aioli like her life depended on it). “Who cares” says Miss 12, scooping hers up with plenty of sliced mango… and on and on it goes. At least they are eating dinner without complaining right?!
SERVES 4
Ingredients
300g pork mince
300g beef mince
1 egg
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 clove garlic, crushed
salt & pepper
1/2 cup brazil nuts
1 shallot
Method
Preheat the oven to 180˚C and put a wire rack on an oven tray.
In a large bowl whisk the egg with the thyme, garlic and salt & pepper. Add in the mince and mix well.
Put the nuts into a food processor and blend until they are crumbly but still have nice little pieces of the nuts in it. Pour into a shallow bowl. Roughly chop the shallot and put it in the food processor and blend until it’s chopped into small pieces. Add them to the nuts and mix to combine.
Spoon the meat mixture into your hands (2 tablespoons at a time) and roll in your hands to make a ball. Once all the balls are rolled, dip them in the nut mix and roll around gently to get the nuts to stick – you may need to press the nuts gently into the balls (teehee).
Place them on the wire wrack and cook for 20 – 25 minutes or until cooked through.
Serve with a salad (I had some cherry tomatoes, a mango and an avocado), aioli dipping sauce or whatever else you fancy / have in your fridge.
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January 6, 2015
Hi, do you know if these freeze would freeze well? Just trying to find some clean recipes that I can quickly pull out in a hurry.
January 6, 2015
Hi Rochelle – I freeze them either before I cook them, so they are rolled and just need defrosting and cooking which I think is nicer OR after I cook them, but you need to make sure there’s no air on them (tight gladwrap usually does the trick) otherwise they get a bit freezer burnt. It’s so good to have them portioned out when they are cooked – then it’s easy to grab out for lunch or whatever!
February 8, 2015
Hi there :) These look delicious, I can’t wait to give them a go and test them out on my 8 year old! I just wanted your opinion on beef…. I am new to the Paleo eating and I have read on certain websites that we should avoid beef? Do I need to be buying organic grass fed beef or is the premium beef from the supermarket okay?
Thanks
Natalie
February 8, 2015
Just to point out, the websites were for Candida free diets and colon cleansing diets, NOT Paleo.
February 9, 2015
Hey Natalie – I definitely eat beef (in fact I’ve read it’s one of the best foods to detox with), supermarket beef is fine in NZ, even the extra fat in the cheaper mince is ok. If you’d rather go organic and purely grass-fed go for it but I find most of our meat is pretty high quality (and mostly grass-fed) compared to other countries. I buy for a mixture of quality and price so whatever works for you! Hope this goes down well with your little one :-)