Italian Turkey Meatballs

Spaghetti and meatballs is one of the all star comfort foods.  Traditional Italian meatballs are made with ground beef, pork, and veal, which makes it like most comfort foods in that it's caloric value is more than the combined IQs of the entire cast of Jersey Shore.  Since I can't live in a world without meatballs, I decided to try and lighten them up without losing any of that delicious Italian flavor.  This recipe uses ground turkey breast instead, which has a tendency to dry out, but the rest of the ingredients keep these meatballs tender, juicy, flavorful, and wonderfully healthy.

I use my own homemade marinara sauce for these, but you can use your favorite store bought brand if you'd like.  This recipe makes about 12-18 meatballs depending on how big you like to make them.  You can make really small ones and serve them as an appetizer, large ones and serve them with pasta, or even make them to smother with cheese and peppers and make a killer meatball sandwich.  Just remember to adjust the cooking time based on the size.

• 1 lb ground turkey breast
• 5 slices white bread, crusts removed and cut into half inch cubes
• 3 Tb milk
• 1 large egg
• half a yellow onion, grated (* I use a box grater to turn the onion into almost onion juice- this keeps the turkey very moist and keeps you from biting into big onion chunks)
• 1/4 C chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 C grated Parmesan
• 2 cloves finely minced garlic
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 Tb olive oil
• 6 cups marinara sauce

Preheat the oven to 400.

Place the bread cubes in a smal bowl and cover with the milk.  Let this sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

 

 

In a large bowl, combine all of the rest of the ingredients.  Mix with your hands until everything is thoroughly combined.  I always use my hands to make sure it's all evenly distributed and I'm not overworking the mixture.

 

 

Add the soaked bread and mix again. 

Roll the mixture into golf ball sized balls.  This part can be sticky, so it helps to get your hands wet first.  This prevents the meat from sticking to your hands.

 

 

Place the meatballs on a baking sheet.  Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and the meatballs are almost cooked through.

 

 

While the meatballs are baking, heat up the marinara sauce on the stove top in a large pot.

 

 

Place the partially cooked meatballs in the sauce and cook the remainder of the way, about 20-30 minutes, covered.