Mini Turkey Meatballs

There are so many things wrong with the Food Network (Sandra Lee, Rachel Ray, Emeril, Bobby Flay…I need to stop before my head hurts), but some things are good. While I find Giada’s show annoying (soft focus lighting? Really? Oh she’s washing her hands again, let’s watch that!), her recipes are so delicious and easy to do. I’ve tried a few and have just loved the results.

For Aaron’s birthday (hooray for part 3!), I wanted to do something meat-y, but since I don’t eat a lot of meat, I wasn’t sure I could do a good meatball recipe and get it right. Then this recipe came to mind. I skipped the tomato sauce part at the end and kept them warm in my slowcooker while I worked on everything else. I think it helped compensate for the lack of tomato sauce simmering.

Mini Turkey Meatballs from Everyday Italian:

Makes 42 mini meatballs (I got fewer, but I made random sizes)

1 small onion, grated (I used half of a larger Vidalia onion)
7 garlic cloves, minced
1 large egg
¼ c. dried bread crumbs
3 Tb. ketchup
¼ c. chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
¼ c. grated Parmesan
¼ c. grated Pecorino Romano
1 tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. ground black pepper
1 lb. ground turkey meat





Add the onion, garlic, egg, bread crumbs, ketchup, parsley, Parmesan, Pecorino, salt and pepper to a large bowl and blend. Mix in the turkey. Shape the turkey mixture into 1 1/4-inch-diameter meatballs (if you feel like being exact. I rarely do). Place on a large plate or baking sheet.



Heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and sauté until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Cook through, about another 10 minutes on lower heat. It was at about this point that I put them all into the slowcooker. They were still very moist and tasty when I removed them 30-40 minutes later.

I think these are an incredible appetizer and I may try them with the tomato sauce one of these days or with the fried mozzarella balls in pasta, as I mentioned earlier. Right now, though, I think they are great just as is with toothpicks. My friend Bryan was a pro, though, and managed to get both a meatball and a mozzarella ball on a single toothpick, so maybe as is can include much more than I think! Italian kebabs maybe? I’ll have to work on some of these ideas.