Turkey Meatballs

Blade’s Culinary Creations
Turkey Meatballs

I have battled with my love of food and wanting to stay at a certain weight. Usually food wins. I love carbs! Mostly pasta! But I know that greens should be the main part of my diet. When I was little my family would have spaghetti with meat sauce (usually made with ground beef) just about every week. Most people are into weekly rituals or traditions like that but I can’t seem to eat the same thing every single week. I am the type of person that likes to try new things. I like variety so when I make “spaghetti”, my meat sauce tends to get a little crazy. I put things in it like sausage, shrimp, mushrooms, peppers, olives, onions, and basically anything that seems like it may taste good it. I make different sauces so that its not always the same. But today I wanted to go with a traditional marinara with turkey meatballs. I never use ground beef anymore. I know people say that ground turkey is usually dry but if you cook it the right way then its not. My nieces were here visiting and wanted to help me cook. Of course that means Zoe needs to be involved as well. They had the wonderful job of rolling the meatballs together. (Hence the different size meatballs.) A small cookie scooper will help divide the meatballs into the same size balls.

i made an adult version sauce as well as a kid friendly version. The adult version just means you add wine ;). i hope you enjoy it. Serve over pasta or Zoodles. (Zucchini noodles)

Turkey Meatballs

By Sonia Jones

Meatballs

1 Lb Ground Turkey

1 Large Egg

1 cup Parmesan Cheese

1/4 cup Bread Crumbs

1 Tablespoon Pesto

1 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Pepper

1 tsp Oregano

2 Tablespoon Olive Oil

For the Sauce

1  32 oz  can Crushed Tomatoes

2 cloves of Garlic (minced)

1/4 of a cup diced Onion

1 1/2 tablespoon Brown Sugar

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

4 basil leaves

1 Bay Leaf

salt and pepper to taste

*** adult version***1/4 cup sweet red wine

Basil and parsley  for Garnish

Directions: 

In a bowl, blend egg, bread crumbs, pesto, parmesan, salt, pepper, and oregano.  Fold in the turkey. Using  a small cookie scoop, scoop mixture out of bowl and shape into 1 1/4-inch-diameter meatballs.

In a large frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium high heat. Sauté meatballs, turning occasionally, until light brown, 5 minutes.

Remove meatballs from pan and place on baking dish with paper towel to drain excess oil.

In the same frying pan, add 1 tablespoon olive oil  Add onion and cook for about 1 minute. Then add garlic and sauce until fragrant and translucent for an additional minute. Add remaining ingredients to pan crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, basil, Bay Leaf. Simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes. Add Meatballs back to pan and simmer for an additional 15 minutes. Remove Bay leaf and transfer to serving dish. For the ***Adult version*** add 1/4 cup sweet red wine to sauce before transferring to dish.  Serve over pasta or Zucchini Noodles. Garnish with Basil, parsley, and parmesan.