White Meatball

On Tuesday, I went to Sprouts Farmers Market in Eastlake to buy some corn for my son A. For the past 4 years he has had braces on his teeth and has not been able to eat corn on the cob easily. Imagine, not being able to eat jagung, the pasar malam favorite!! Long story short, that day, he finally had the braces removed and his first request was for corn and some apples.

While I was there I stopped by the meat department. Meatball came to mind!! I decided I would experiment and make a different kind of meatball, a healthier meatball. That how I came up with the White Meatball - Turkey and Pork, the other white meats. Even if I have to say so myself, they turned out pretty delicious. So delicious that I am blogging about it before I wash the dishes!!

Oven Roasted Turkey-Beef Meatball

I am always, AND I mean ALWAYS experimenting and creating different meatball recipes. My family loves pasta and meatball. So very often, I would make a batch of meatball without thought that it would be the ONE and not note what I in put in it - this was one of those times! So, here I am quickly trying to remember what I put in them to get this delicious meatball I made today. I think I got it. For me, oven roasting is the way to go, easy, fast and clean.

Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs beaten
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
1/4 cup bacon bits( if not using bacon, salt the meat with 1 teaspoon salt)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon italian herb mix
1 cup breadcrumbs Progresso Italian Herb
1/4 parmesan reggiano

Method:
Preheat the oven to 425F.

Put the ground turkey and ground beef in a big bowl. Sprinkle over all the other ingredients, with the exception of the 2 eggs and milk. With a light hand, mix the meats with ingredients so that the turkey and beef is evenly distributed. Beat the eggs and milk together in a separate bowl. Add to the meat mixture, quickly and lightly mix in to bind all ingredients.

Put 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a small bowl.

I use a 1/4 cup cookie or ice cream scoop for portioning the meatball mixture.  First, I dip the fingertips of my  right hand in the olive oil and dab the palm of my left hand with the olive fingers. Scoop one portion of meatball mixture with the cookie scoop to my left palm. I roll the meatball mixture between my palms to form the meatball and place shaped meatball on a baking sheet. There is no need to grease the whole sheet as the meatball is oiled when I rolled it between my oiled palm. Bake formed meatball in 425F oven for 20 minutes.

Turkey Meatballs

Devon made these meatballs yesterday afternoon :)
I had experimented with making Pizookie and the girls were over to sample and help me with refining the recipe (and eat homemade Froyo ). One thing lead to another and soon Devon was up to her knuckles with ground turkey and churning out meatball like a pro!

The Turkey Meatballs turned out great! It is not the recipe that the Bonita Soccer Team enjoyed but still good (alas I have to find that recipe....)

• 1/2 cup plain dried bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1 pound ground turkey-preferably 20% fat

Heat oven to 500F.

Stir together breadcrumbs, parsley, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes in a large size bowl. Crack 2 eggs into another bowl. Add the whole milk to the eggs and whisk. Add the turkey meat and the egg mixture to the bowl containing the dry ingredients. Gently combine until just mixed. Do not overwork or meatballs will be hard. Shape into golf ball sized meatballs or desired sized. Just make sure that they are all the same size to ensure even cooking. Placed on lightly greased baking sheet. Cook in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Cooking the meatballs in the oven at a high temperature browns them and get them ready for the sauce. It allows you to brown all the meatballs at one time versus frying them in batches on the stove. Also saves washing another pan!

While, meatballs are browning, make your own tomato pasta sauce or doctor up ready made sauce. To add your own touch to store bought pasta sauce, saute chopped garlic and shallots in some olive oil before adding the sauce to the pan. Season sauce with freshly chopped parsley and bay leaves. Let simmer. Add meatballs and simmer for 1/2 -45 minutes on low. Finish with fresh basil and/ or more chopped parsley.