Turkey Meatballs!

my mom refuses to eat ground turkey because she had a bad experience with turkey meatloaf one time...which i can totally understand. even i was a little hesitant to try ground turkey...it just looks gross when its not cooked.  but i got over it.  i think the key to making turkey burgers or meatballs, or meatloaf for that matter, is the seasoning.  its so mild by itself that you can literally add anything....

turkey meatballs with spaghetti squash (excuse the picture, cant wait for a nice new camera....)

1. defrost your turkey and put it in a mixing bowl.

2. add an egg, a handful of bread crumbs.  heres were you can be creative: last night i added: parsely, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and a few chili flakes.  with all the spices at at least 4 or 5 big dashes of each. you want to liberally season here. and mix all together.

3. place a big pot on the stove.  add a couple swirls of olive oil, enough to coat the bottom.  start rolling the turkey into balls.  when you place your hand near the oil and you can feel the heat, start placing the meat balls in the pot.

4. turn them over once they break away from the bottom easily.  they should have a bit of color.  now, its not as easy to turn a turkey meatball, the meat is more moist (i think) so they get deformed more easily.  the important thing is that you bet them to brown on at least three sides, so that when you add them to the sauce they stay in a ball shape.

5. after you have browned them on 3 to 4 sides, remove them to a paper towel.

6. to make a simple tomato sauce: add at leastttt 3 cloves of minced garlic to the pan you just used to brown the meatballs, turkeyballs. let it cook for like a minute.  then add: 2 tablespoons (at least) tomato paste, 2 cans of diced tomatoes, and a can of tomato puree.  then add at least 2 cans of water, or enough to thin it out a bit.  now, spice it UP again.  add like a lot of parsely, basil, oregano, a little chili flake.  when i made this last night, even with all that i didnt think it was enough flavor. so i added a splash of yellowtail red wine, use any kind of wine, we had had this sitting on our counter for a few days and a few spoonfuls of pesto i had in the fridge. point is: you can add anythingggg to tomato sauce.

7. next, add the meatballs back to the pot, and bring up to a light simmer to cook the meatballs through. i wouldnt go over 20 minutes, or the balls will dry out....

ok thats it, tuesday nights din;)