Turkey Meatballs

This post is a little overdue, seemed to have gotten buried within a pile of stuff I've been meaning to blog about! A few weeks back I bought a packet of turkey mince in the reduced section for a whopping 75p; having never really cooked with turkey mince before that point but I just couldn't resist for that price to give it a try! When I made this, it must of also been a week for meatballs as separately the lovely Jenny from Jenny Eatwells Rhubarb & ginger blog had also made a similar batch!

I didn’t look at any recipe in particular, was more a bit of this, and a bit of that! Considering it was my first time with the turkey mince, I was pretty impressed and will be definitely making these again, as I oven baked them with just a little spray oil, they are a very lean, and healthy option for dinner!

Whilst the meatballs are quite delicious on their own, especially cold the next day for lunch (though maybe less garlic if you work close to people), you could also serve these hot with a tomato sauce if desired. Due to some health issues I’ve been avoiding off anything saucey or tomatoey for some time (oh how I miss you tomatoes!) but I quickly made up a tomato and smoked paprika sauce for my nieces to go with theirs, apparently it tasted delicious – the plates were licked clean so always a good sign! I additionally made the meatballs a couple of weeks later but with a bacon and tomato sauce, it smelt so good but I managed to resist it! We really are converts now to turkey mince and it is starting to feature quite regularly here!

Makes 35 meatballs – around 6 servings depending on appetites and ages!

665g Turkey mince
Breadcrumbs – a good handful (mine were from ASDA!)
1 beaten Egg
2 heaped tbsp plain Flour
1 heaped tbsp freshly chopped Parsley
S&P to taste (white pepper makes a nice change here)
2 cloves garlic finely minced
½ white onion, finely chopped

Pre-heat the oven to 160o fan/ 180o regular

Place the onion and garlic in a shallow dish, microwave uncovered for 3 minutes to soften them and take the raw edge off. Having made batches with both raw, and the cooked mixture, the latter is far superior so don’t skip this stage! Though if raw garlic appeals you might just like...!

Combine all the ingredients using your hands, until all squished together nicely. Roll into walnut sized balls and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet (I recently discovered a non-stick baking sheet thingy that is awesome!) and bake approximately for 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through - always worthwhile chopping one in half to double check, and of course if cooked then it becomes chefs perk!

Serve with sauce if desired, or chill and eat cold later.