Turkey Meatballs with Tomato-Wine Sauce

This is a fantastic meatball recipe! Basil, parsley, pine nuts, onion, and garlic give it tons of flavor, and ricotta cheese gives it a lovely fluffy texture! I chose to use ground turkey to make this a lighter meatball, but you can use beef, pork, or lamb. Once, my mother-in-law made it with a mix of 50% lamb and 50% beef (or pork) and it was amazing! 


The tomato-wine sauce comes together in 10 minutes! It tastes funny on its own but once you add the meatballs it is like they were made for each other. Another option is to serve these meatballs with pasta and Pesto sauce - I tried it and it was wonderful!


Turkey Meatballs with Tomato-Red Wine Sauce


Ingredients


Meatball
1/4 cup olive oil
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup pine nuts
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground
2/3 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 cup ricotta
1/4 cup Parmesan, grated
zest of 1 lemon
1 egg
1 lb ground turkey
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper


Sauce
1 (28oz) can of tomatoes
1/2 cup red wine
1 teaspoon of salt, and more to taste
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper


Directions


Meatballs
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook onion and pine nuts until onion is soft and pine nuts are light golden brown. Add the garlic and cook for a few more minutes. Leave it to cool.


Put the herbs, fennel seeds, bread crumbs, ricotta, Parmesan, lemon zest and egg in a bowl and add the ground turkey. Add cooked onion and pine nuts, season with the salt and pepper and mix briefly until just combined. Leave the mixture to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or overnight.


Heat the oven to 400F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Using your hands, form the meatballs and place them on the lined baking pan. Cook it in the oven for about 20 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.


Sauce
If using whole peeled tomatoes, use a food processor to brake them down to small pieces. Transfer tomatoes to a sauce pan, add the wine, salt and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes. Gently add the cooked meatballs to the sauce pan. Cover the sauce pan and simmer for another 10 minutes. Serve.


Adapted from Foods from Italy, Murdoch Books


Visualize

Cook onion and pine nuts:

Add garlic and cook for another 3 minutes. Leave it to cool.

I a large bowl combine fresh herbs, fennel seeds, bread crumbs, Parmesan, ricotta, lemon zest, egg: 

Add cooked onion and pine nuts:

Finally add meat, salt and pepper:

Mix briefly just to combine. Cover and place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile make the sauce. Chop whole canned tomatoes with the help of a food processor:

Place tomato sauce in a large sauce pan, add wine, salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Heat the oven to 400F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Form the meatballs, place them on the lined baking pan. 

Cook it in the oven for about 20 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.

Transfer cooked meatballs into the sauce and simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve hot.