It's Dad's Turn to Cook...Turkey Meatballs

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To honor the fathers of our chaos, we decided feature their cooking for our Wednesday series this month. Some of them cook more than others…here are their stories. This week – Megan’s husband, Ben:

There is one question that I always have to ask myself when it comes to meals: Would I like fries with that? My idea of cooking usually involves a box some tuna or hamburger, butter and milk or telling the talking menu board, who I can’t understand, what I want to eat. But for this blog post I was told that I could not just give a list of my favorite fast food restaurants.

Growing up my dad used to make homemade meatballs on occasion and it was always something I enjoyed, so I thought that I would give it a shot. After a few tries I combined a few recipes and came up with a winner. I decided to use turkey instead of hamburger for some unknown reason, but feel free to use either whichever you prefer. Because turkey has a slightly different texture than beef, it is important to refrigerate them to to keep them from following apart during the cooking process. We also made our own sauce to go with these meatballs. If you want, you can just use a jar of your favorite sauce.

TURKEY MEATBALLS 

Printable Recipe Here

Ingredients

For meatballs
1 pound GROUND TURKEY
1/4 cup GREEN PEPPER, diced small
1/4 cup RED ONION, diced small
1 GARLIC clove, minced
1 large EGG WHITE
2 Tablespoons milk
2 Tablespoons BREAD CRUMBS
1 Tablespoon OREGANO
2 teaspoon KOSHER SALT
1/2 teaspoon PEPPER
1 teaspoon BASIL

For Sauce
1 can (28 oz) CRUSHED TOMATOES
1 can (15 oz) WHOLE PEELED TOMATOES
1 GARLIC clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon OREGANO
pinch of SUGAR

Directions
Meanwhile, in a small skillet, heat 1 teaspoon of the olive oil. Add the onion, green pepper, and minced garlic clove and cook over moderately high heat until softened, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and let cool. Stir in the bread crumbs, milk and egg white. Add the oregano, kosher salt, pepper and basil. Add the ground turkey and knead until combined. Using lightly moistened hands, roll the mixture into 1-inch meatballs and transfer them to a large baking sheet. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, put all tomatoes and juices in a large pan. Add garlic, oregano, and sugar. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let sit until meatballs are cooked.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat the 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of olive oil until shimmering. Add half of the meatballs and cook over medium-high heat, turning, until browned and cooked through, about 6 minutes; using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel–lined plate. Repeat with the remaining meatballs. Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes; season with salt and pepper.

Serve on top of spaghetti noodles or on hoagie buns with mozzarella cheese.