Friday, March 19, 2010

Turkey Meatballs and Spaghetti

I don't like Thanksgiving turkey but sure do love ground turkey! Is that weird? I love how many different kinds of food you can make with ground turkey. From burgers to Asian lettuce wraps... Some of my favorite dishes are cooked with ground turkey. These turkey meatballs are so delicious. It's packed with lots of great flavors. My favorite thing about these meatballs were all the little things that went in the meatballs such as carrots and chili peppers. They really added great flavors to these meatballs. I used whole wheat spaghetti noodles and they went very well with the simple tomato spaghetti sauce.

Turkey Meatballs and Spaghetti
Adapted and changed from "Food Network"
(My recipe is a little different from the original recipe, so if you'd like to see the original recipe, please click the link above.)

Ingredients:

Sauce:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (optional)
4 cloves garlic, minced or finely chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons fresh chopped oregano leaves
1 sprig fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
salt
1/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves

Meatballs:

Cooking spray
1 lb ground turkey
1/4 cup steel cut oats
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
1/2 cup finely grated carrot
1/2 cup finely chopped onion (optional)
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon chopped green chili or Jalapeno
1/2 teaspoon chopped red chili
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 box (16 ounces) whole-wheat spaghetti, cooked as directed by the package

Directions:

Make Sauce:

In a 4-quart saucepan heat the oil over medium heat. Saute the onions until translucent, about 3 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add tomato paste, tomatoes, oregano, rosemary, and salt. Bring all the ingredients to a low boil, reduce heat and cook for approximately 15 minutes, until liquid has evaporated slightly. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. While sauce is cooking, make meatballs.

Meatballs:

Preheat the broiler. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Combine the turkey with all other ingredients in a large work bowl. Form into 2 1/2 -inch balls and place on a baking sheet. Broil for 10 minutes, or until browned and almost entirely cooked through.

Meanwhile, remove rosemary sprig from sauce and add fresh basil. 

You can either add the meatballs to the sauce and stir or serve the sauce on top of meatballs like I did. Serve with cooked pasta. 

Enjoy!!



42 comments:

  1. I can see how you'd prefer ground turkey to the whole bird; it's a bit of a different animal.

    As for spaghetti and meatballs... who doesn't love a bit of that comfort food?? I haven't used oatmeal in my meatballs before. Did you like the texture?

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  2. Looks and sounds wonderful! Thanks for the healthy recipe.

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  3. WOW Picture perfect meatbaals n spaghetti..thanx for the recipe...

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  4. Love the meatballs. To me that is comfort food. I love the presentation too.
    Happy Weekend.

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  5. Sook, this looks SO good! I love ground turkey too, its so versatile - and I really like that you've added some jalapeno for kick. Yum!

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  6. That looks so good plus healthy and that is a good thing; thank you.
    Rita

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  7. Sook, this pasta dish looks so perfect!

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  8. Pasta looks divine with those meatballs...feel like finishing that whole plate...soooooo tempting!

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  9. Mmm...looks delicious. I love to use turkey mince in cooking. It's more lean.

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  10. Sook,

    Pasta and meat ball look perfect and yummy.

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  11. Love those meatballs! You have reminded me how much I miss a hearty spaghetti dish like this! Yum! Can't wait to make it! Just one more week or so!

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  12. Sook this looks great! I hardly ever make spaghetti and meat balls...but I love it!

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  13. Meatballs are such a versatile food to mix n' match with all kinds of dishes. Very nice Sook!

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  14. My favorite kind of comfort food

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  15. So hearty, so homely! Comfort food! It's raining as I type. Wouldn't it be nice to have a plate of that? :)

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  16. Ooh! I've never really enjoyed ground turkey - but these sound really lovely. They sound like they would be very flavorful, which is my main complaint with ground turkey. It tends to be sort of bland.

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  17. beautiful plate of pasta and meatballs! id like some myself.:)

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  18. colourful dish...lovely clicks sook

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  19. I love minced turkey more than the whole turkey too. this looks delicious!

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  20. Turkey meatballs are a good time, great version!

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  21. Yummy and healthy pasta, love your pic too...

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  22. very yummy looking plate of meatballs and spagetti! healthy too! your profile picture is nice:D

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  23. Looks great! We eat lots of ground turkey too. I did just hear that ground turkey has more sodium than other meats???

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  24. bravo sook your meatballs are so scrumptious

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  25. Great job! I'm always too lazy to make meatballs and just dump the ground meat straight into the sauce. I applaud your dedication.

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  26. Looks awesome, will file it away for our impending cool weather! Happily tomorrow is not a sign of weather to come :)

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  27. Yum, great healthy take on spaghetti and meatballs.

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  28. that looks SO good! i love spaghetti and i love how you made the meatballs!

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  29. It looks yummy and delicious. Excellent.

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  30. I love the presentation of this dish. Sometimes pasta dishes can come out funny in the pictures if not plated up nicely, but this looks great. Although I don't eat meat, I bet this would work with meatless soy crumbles for meatballs.

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  31. What a delicious and healthy meatball recipe! Excellent comfort food!

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  32. I love ground turkey too and one of my favorite uses for it is turkey meatballs. Great idea adding the jalapeno to the meatballs - I really like that addition! I'm so proud of you for making so many healthy recipes. You're doing so good:D

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  33. I love what you put in the meatball mix, looks very delicious!

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  34. i'm a huge ground turkey fan.. love this recipe.. thanks for sharing...

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  35. I really don't use ground turkey as often as I probably should. when I see a presentation like yours, it just reminds me of what I missing. And, good for ya too!!!

    Thanks for sharing...

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  36. Healthy and delicious!I don't use ground turkey, but I really want to try it now.....It looks fantastic, Sook!

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  37. I completely understand why you like ground turkey, it is so versatile and lends to such recipes as meatballs. This looks super healthy and delicious!

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  38. Sook, this dish makes even a vegetarian like me want to try it...great clicks as usual!

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  39. This looks delicious, I just posted my version of spaghetti and goat sauce :P

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  40. Gosh do those meatballs sound as if they have A LOT of flavor! Wow! So much nicer than the ground beef ones.

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