Turkey Meatballs in Tomato Sauce 🦃

2nd recipe from the #SezPKuarantined diaries! These saucy little meatballs are soft and super scrumptious. The parmesan in them comes through beautifully and you can enjoy them with pasta, focaccia or rice! Very versatile and easy to make 😌

Serves: 4 (16 meatballs)

Difficulty: Level 3

Wow factor: ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ingredients

Turkey meatballs:

• 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs

• 1/2 cup milk

• 1 egg

• 1tsp Italian seasoning mix

• Salt & pepper

• 400gr turkey breast mince

• 5-10gr finely shredded parmesan

Tomato sauce:

• 3 cloves garlic, chopped finely

• 1-2 tbsp Olive oil

• Pinch of chilli flakes

• 1tsp Italian seasoning mix

• 2 tins chopped tomatoes

• 1tbsp tomato paste

Instructions

1. Put the Panko breadcrumbs into a large-ish bowl along with the milk, and let these ingredients sit for 5 minutes.

2. Whilst waiting, chop up your garlic and fry along with the chilli flakes in a large (wide) pot with some olive oil on medium heat. Don't let it burn, you are not Usher. Remember that your pot needs to be big enough to fit all the meatballs.

3. Add 1tsp of the italian seasoning mix and then the a tbsp of tomato paste. Stir through then add two tins of chopped tomatoes. Bring to a boil and let it simmer. Add a little water if the sauce looks too thick.

4. Return to your panko and milk mix. Add 1 egg, 1tsp italian seasoning mix, a pinch of salt and pepper and the parmesan. Mix through with a fork.

5. Add the turkey mince into the bowl and mix with your hands. For succulent meatballs make sure to not over mix.

6. Once mixed, pickup a small chunk and roll with the palm of your hand to form the meatballs. Again, don't roll them up too tightly otherwise they become too firm and dense. You can wet your hands before you do this to make sure the turkey mix doesn't stick to your hands.

7. Drop all your meatballs into your tomato sauce, making sure they aren't stacked on top of each other. Don't worry if the meatballs aren't covered by the sauce as they will steam through. Put the lid on (important to make sure the steam stays in the pot and the sauce doesn't dry out), and let simmer for 20 minutes. Give the pot a shake after 10 minutes (don't stir as this will break the meatballs).

8. After 20 mins, take the lid off and continue to simmer for another 5-10 minutes to cook through and thicken up the sauce. Again, shake the pot every so often to mix through.

9. Before serving, add some chopped up basil to the tomato sauce.

10. Serve with pasta, fresh shredded parmesan and parsley.

This might be slightly challenging if you don't like getting down and dirty with your hands but trust us, it is so delicious! Hope you try it out this weekend 🥳#SezPK #TurkeyMeatballs #Dinner #Lunch