Turkey is a much lighter option compared to beef when it comes to meatballs. Although the meat is a lot damper and less rigid you can still make meatballs with them. They are very refreshing and a nice change from the usual run-of-the-mill recipes you get. In here I use an apple to add sweetness and bind the meatballs together with egg and breadcrumbs. I also made my own pasta so I use this to serve with the dish but you can use dried pasta if you don’t have time to make fresh pasta.

This will easily feed 3-4 people (depending on how greedy the people are)

Meatballs Ingredients

• 450-500g of turkey mince
• 1 tablespoon of mixed herbs
• 1 apple, peeled, cored, finely chopped and diced
• 1 onion finely chopped and diced
• salt and pepper
• 1 egg
• 2 garlic cloves
• Breadcrumbs from 1 slice of bread
• A few leaves of fresh parsley (optional)
• olive oil

Sauce Ingredients

• 1 Onion chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of mixed herbs
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 pepper sliced and roughly chopped
• a splash of Worcester sauce (use balsamic vinegar if you do not have this)
• Half a mug of beef or vegetable stock.
• Salt and pepper

 

We need to finely chop the garlic, onion and apple after peeling and slicing. Start with the  garlic and then the onion.

Add this to a food processor and then peel and chop the apple.

Put this in the food processor too and mash it all up together.

Lovely. Now put this in a large bowl.

Add the turkey and herbs.

Now the breadcrumbs and egg. Add some salt and pepper for seasoning.

Mix it all up.

Then use a spoon to dish out spoonfuls of the mixture to make meatballs about 4cm across in diameter. Ensure this is a large plate because there will be a lot of meatballs.

Now if you are not cooking all these meatballs (I would recommend about 4-5 per person), then you can transfer some to another plate and put in the fridge for a few days.

Heat a large wok or frying pan and add about 2 tablespoons of oil. If you do not have a large pan, you may have to cook these in batches.

Turn to a medium heat and start cooking on one side. After a minute, use a spoon or a fork to turn them over.

We don’t want them to burn too much on any side so keep them rotating for a few minutes. Be careful because they are quite delicate. After about 10 minutes of cooking they should be done. Transfer them to a plate.

Now its time to make the sauce! Chop up the vegetables.

Add the onions to the pan.

When softened after a few minutes then add the garlic and cook the garlic for 1 minute. Then add the tomatoes and peppers.

Add the herbs, Worcester sauce and the stock. Add some salt and pepper too if you desire.

Place the meatballs gently into the wok.

Let them simmer and cover them with the sauce.

While they are cooking, place some pasta into a boiling pan and cook that until it is ready. Once the pasta is done then serve.

Try not to splash the tomato sauce everywhere and enjoy 🙂