It’s almost time to start making fall comfort foods! Even though the meteorologists are forecasting 90 degree days this upcoming weekend here in New York, it was a little cooler earlier in the week. And the cooler weather made it the perfect time to try spaghetti and meatballs.
I usually make my meatballs with ground beef, Greek-style
with mint (like my mom does), but I decided to try ground turkey this time and
make it with more of an Italian flavor. Giada has a good recipe that I based
this on. I like some of her recipes, but I find her annoying. I grew
up in a predominately Italian neighborhood (people who recently immigrated and
also people whose families have been here in the US for a couple of generations)
and nobody pronounces spaghetti as “spa-GHEE-TEE,” ever. Maybe it’s a dialect
thing – she’s from Rome and my friends and old neighbors are from Southern
Italy? Or maybe she likes to over-enunciate her words? In any case, she adds ketchup
to her turkey meatballs, so I wanted to try that here. Let's see how that works.
Also, incorporated into this recipe, is my favorite tomato
sauce by Marcella Hazan from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. So simple, yet it's the best! I started the sauce first
so that it would cook while I made the meatballs. I used 99% lean turkey and
the meatballs were not dry at all, but you can use a pack of less lean ground turkey, if you wish. After browning the meatballs, I cooked them for about 20 minutes
in the sauce. The sauce thickened up and the meatballs took on the flavor of the sauce.
You can probably see in the picture with the food plated that
I added some spaghetti squash on top of the spaghetti before the meatballs and sauce.
This is a great way to incorporate vegetables into your meals! I just baked a
halved spaghetti squash for 30-40 minutes at 400
degrees and ran a fork through it to remove spaghetti-like strands. Just be careful cutting that thing – or poke some holes in it with a fork so that it doesn't explode and soften it in the microwave first.
What are your favorite fall comfort foods?
Turkey Meatballs with
Sauce
(serves 4)
Ingredients
For the tomato sauce
2 -28 oz cans san Marzano tomatoes (or peeled tomatoes)
½ medium onion, left intact (no chopping)
1 stick butter (8 Tbsp)
For the meatballs
¼ medium onion, chopped (or ½ tsp onion powder)
2 garlic cloves, minced (or ½ tsp garlic powder)
1 egg
3 Tbsp ketchup
¼ cup plain breadcrumbs (if you use seasoned, adjust the
other spices)
1.3 lbs Ground Turkey (I used 99% lean here, but use what
you want)
1 tsp dried parsley (or ¼ cup fresh)
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil for pan frying
Preparation
Start the sauce first. In a large pot or Dutch oven, add the
two 28 oz cans of tomatoes, the piece of onion and the stick of butter. Let it
heat up to start boiling and then turn down to a medium-low simmer. Let the
sauce simmer uncovered for 40 minutes, stirring and breaking up the tomatoes occasionally,
while you make the meatballs.
For the meatballs, have a bowl and a plate ready. In the bowl,
combine the onion, garlic, egg, ketchup, bread crumbs, parsley, ground turkey,
salt and pepper with your hands until everything is blended together. Using
your hands, form the meatballs into small balls that are about 1” across and
put them on the plate. From 1.3 lbs I was able to yield 36 meatballs.
Have another plate lined with 2 paper towels ready by the stove. Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet or frying pan at a medium heat. Brown the meatballs in batches to avoid over-crowding the pan. Brown them on all sides for about 5 minutes total.
I used a slotted spoon to cook them and move
them to the waiting plate, where they drained.
Once your sauce has cooked 40 minutes, add the meatballs to
the sauce and continue cook the meatballs in the sauce over a medium-low heat for
another 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. The sauce will thicken and you will have
awesome meatballs and sauce for dinner!
Serve with spaghetti, spaghetti squash or both.
Enjoy!
Kali Orexi!
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