Entertain the Possibilities - Home cooking becomes a special occasion; Get recipes, photos, tips and playlists
  • Blog
  • About

Tantalizing Turkey Meatballs

4/15/2016

0 Comments

 
Turkey Meatballs
Turkey Balls. Meaty Balls. Meaty Turkey Balls. Turkey Meatballs. Ding ding ding. That’s the one we’re talking about today. I recently wrote about cooking up a mess o’ spaghetti and meatballs for Game Night, giving away treasured family secrets about my sauce. (Haha, not really, but I know that some folks get seriously hardcore and protective about that stuff!) Well now it’s time to talk turkey. Meatballs. I think that's been established already.

I use a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis with just a few variations in ingredients and process. I’ve made this many times and can vouch that it’s an A-#1-Primo dish. Let’s get started, shall we?

Click the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.
Printable Recipe- Not-So-Classic Italian Turkey Meatballs
File Size: 526 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Not-So-Classic Italian Turkey Meatballs
Recipe slightly adapted from one by Giada De Laurentiis for Food Network

INGREDIENTS:
  • 1 cup plain breadcrumbs (or panko)
  • 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • 1/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon ketchup, optional
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 2 pounds ground turkey meat
  • Cooking spray, or extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

DIRECTIONS:
  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  • Line two heavy baking sheets with aluminum foil. Spray the foil lightly with cooking spray.
  • In a large bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, basil, parsley, milk, ketchup if using, tomato paste, salt, pepper, eggs, garlic and onions.
  • Using a wooden spoon, stir to blend. Add the ground turkey. Using fingers, gently mix all the ingredients until thoroughly combined.
  • Using a 1-ounce cookie scoop or a small ice cream scoop or your gloved hands, form the meat mixture into balls roughly 1 1/2-inches in diameter. Note: The original recipe says you’ll get 22-24 meatballs, but I made them a bit smaller to yield 32.
  • Place the meatballs on the baking sheets covered with foil, spacing apart.
  • Place the baking sheets in the refrigerator to chill for about 15 minutes and firm up a bit.
  • When it’s time to bake the meatballs, spray them lightly with cooking spray. Alternately you can drizzle them with olive oil, but I find it makes the balls a little too loose and more likely to disintegrate.
  • Bake for 8 minutes. Remove the pans and carefully turn the meatballs; they might stick a little bit so be gentle. Return the pans to the oven and continue cooking another 8 minutes.
  • Test for doneness by piercing a meatball with a knife; if pink juices flow cook the meatballs for another few minutes. If the juices run clear, the meatballs are done.
  • Remove meatballs from the foil so that they won’t stick – either to a rack if cooling to use later, or directly into the pan with your cooked tomato sauce.
Turkey Meatballs in Marinara Sauce

Photos: Ann Johnson
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    When home cooking becomes a special occasion - Recipes, playlists, table tips and more
    Picture

    ​
    Entertaining Vintage

    Vintage treasures for the kitchen, home, collectibles, and gifts

    Categories

    All
    Afternoon Dance Break
    Birthday Greetings
    Cookbook Road Test
    Cool Tunes
    Drinks
    Entertaining Vintage
    Fish
    Kitchen Reno
    Kitchen Tips
    National Days
    Party Planning
    Pop Culture
    Recipe
    Savory Bites
    Supper Club
    Sweet Bites
    The Arts
    Travel
    TV
    Video

    Archives

    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015

    RSS Feed

    Subscribe to our mailing list

    * indicates required
Proudly powered by Weebly