Add the onion, garlic cloves, almonds and bread to a blender.

Pulse the ingredients for 20 to 25 seconds until everything is chopped up finely. Pour the olive oil in a large pan, add the crumbled bread and almonds and place the pan over medium-high heat. Season with a pinch of pepper, salt and nutmeg. Stir the crumble and bake it for 5 minutes.

Then add the chicken stock and bay leaves.

Stir well and cover the pan. Bring the mixture to a good boil. Then turn the heat lower and simmer the sauce for 10 minutes. After that remove the bay leaves and pour the almond mixture in a blender (or mix the sauce using a stick mixer). Pulse for 25 seconds until the almond sauce looks pale and creamy.

Pour the sauce back into the pan. Add the meatballs and the soaked saffron and saffron water.

Stir well and bring the sauce and meatballs to a light simmer. Let the meatballs cook in the sauce for 20 minutes until cooked through. In the end check the seasoning of the sauce and add extra pepper, salt or nutmeg to taste if necessary.

If the sauce is too thick, add extra milk or water and cook the meatballs for 5 more minutes. Scoop the meatballs onto plates and sprinkle with the toasted shaved almonds. Serve hot.