Everyone has their own idea of the ideal meatball. For me, it’s a plump, juicy ball of well-seasoned meat that’s so tender a spoon can pass right through it with almost no resistance.
Too often turkey meatballs are dry because ground turkey is leaner than more traditionally used beef or pork. Perhaps you had never considered it but working both ground turkey and pork into your meatballs improves the texture and flavor.
Instead of buying pork sausage meat, we always buy just plain ground pork. I can make my own sausage easily enough with the ground meat, and this gives me more options of how I use it. It’s the perfect complement, in both flavor and fat content, to the turkey. Together, they make a wonderful meatball.
Some years ago, I had posted a blog making zucchini noodles. We found it was a good alternative to pasta for something different. Turkey/pork meatballs compliment zucchini noodles nicely.
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- 220 gm ground turkey
- 220 gm ground pork
- 60 gm mozzarella cheese, shredded or cheese of choice
- 4 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp red chili flakes, optional
- 1 Tbsp cilantro paste found in the vegetable section at the grocery store
- salt & pepper to taste
- 3 Tbsp butter,
- 1 - 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp hot sauce of choice
- 4 medium zucchini, spiralized
Ingredients
Meatballs
Sauce / Zucchini Noodles
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- In a large bowl, combine ground turkey and ground pork, cheese, grated garlic, Italian seasoning, bouillon cube, red chili pepper flakes, chopped cilantro, & black pepper. Mix well with your hands or fork & form medium turkey meatballs. Arrange the turkey meatballs on a plate & set them aside.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Cook the turkey meatballs for 8 – 10 minutes on all sides, until browned and cooked through. While cooking, baste the turkey meatballs with a mix of butter & juices. Remove to a clean plate & set aside.
- In the same skillet melt the remaining tablespoon of butter; then add lemon juice, hot sauce, minced garlic, & red pepper flakes (if you wish). Add the zucchini noodles & cook for 3 or 4 minutes, stirring regularly, until zucchini noodles are done but still crisp and juices have reduced a bit. Adjust seasoning with salt & pepper & garnish with more cilantro or parsley if you like.
- Push zucchini noodles on one side of the skillet add the turkey meatballs back to the pan and reheat for a minute or two. Serve the garlic butter turkey meatballs with lemon zucchini noodles immediately.