Rigatoni with Mini Turkey Meatballs

I am welcoming Friday with open arms. And what better way than with arms full of cheesy pasta goodness? And I can't decide what's cuter; the mini meatballs, mini mozzarella, or the mini rigatoni? But there's nothing "mini" about the flavors of this dish. Creamy tomato sauce, al dente pasta, flavorful meatballs, and fresh crisp basil. That's just what the weekend ordered.

Rigatoni with Mini Turkey Meatballs

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 lb. lean ground turkey
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp. finely minced onion
• 1 tbsp. minced parsley
• 1 tbsp. plain yogurt
• 1 tbsp. freshly grated parmesan
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups marinara sauce (I used my homemade)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup mini mozzarella balls
• fresh basil leaves for garnish

Preheat broiler to high. Place a sheet of tin foil on a large baking sheet and spray with non-stick cooking spray. 

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the bread crumbs and milk and allow if the bread crumbs to soak up some of the milk mixture; about 3 minutes. Then add in the turkey, egg, onion, parsley, yogurt, parmesan, salt & pepper. Mix well.

Using a small cookie scoop, form as many small meatballs as you can, placing them about 1/2-inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Broil for 3-4 minutes, careful not to burn, until just cooked (they will finish cooking in the sauce).

Cook the pasta according to the package directions and save 1/3 cup of the pasta cooking water. 

In a large pot, or deep-sided skillet, heat the tomato sauce over medium heat. Once simmering, add in the cream and the meatballs. Add in the reserved pasta water and continue to simmer until thickened slightly. Allow to cook for 3 minutes before adding in the mozzarella balls. Stir once again. Garish with basil leaves and serve hot.

Thai Turkey Meatballs over Creamy Cabbage Slaw

Obviously I love to cook (otherwise, you wouldn't be reading this here blog), but sometimes dinner can be a hassle. Just a straight pain in the ass. But I would pick cooking a homemade meal with my fiance any night over dining out. So to keep things fresh in the kitchen, I am constantly trying to re-create or add a little twist to some of my kitchen staples. Food blogging is hard these days when everywhere you turn someone has already one-upped your last idea. Like, "oh yeah, you made homemade pasta noodles? That's cute, but check out these homemade-hands-free-basil-diamond-encrusted noodles". It's exhausting. Like I said, just get creative. If your favorite meal is grilled chicken and kale, You go Glen Coco! Just mix it up once in awhile with a new seasoning or marinade. That's how these meatballs came along. When in doubt, we cook up some turkey meatballs with a chipotle honey glaze. 3 ingredients, no fuss. But that gets old for the 3rd time in a week, so I took everything from my fridge and turned it into a meatball. Super flavorful, no wasted groceries. All the wins for me!

Thai Turkey Meatballs over Creamy Cabbage Slaw

Meatballs:

• 1.5 lbs. ground turkey
• 5 green onions, sliced
• 1 cup freshly chopped cilantro leaves
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
• 2 tsp. freshly chopped jalapeno
• 1 cup shredded zucchini, excess water squeezed out
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• pinch crushed red pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/5 tbsp. tamari (or soy sauce)
• 2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp. high heat oil such as canola or avocado

Slaw:

• 1/2 head green cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
• 2 tsp. freshly chopped jalapeno
• 2 tbsp. freshly chopped cilantro
• salt and pepper to taste
• peanuts and green onion for garnish

To make the slaw, whisk together the yogurt, lime juice, and vinegar in a small bowl. In a large bowl, pour the yogurt mixture over the cabbage, then toss in the jalapeno, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Toss well to combine. Cover and keep in the fridge until ready to serve. 

To make the meatballs, add all of the listed ingredients (except for the high-heat oil) into a large mixing bowl. Use your hands to roughly combine the mixture. Cover the turkey and allow to rest in the fridge for 1 hour to marinate. 

Once the turkey has rested in the fridge, use your hands to form gold ball sized meatballs. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Once the oil is hot, add the meatballs to the pan, one at a time. Occasionally turning them to brown them on all sides. Lower the heat to medium, cover with a sheet of tin foil and allow the meatballs to cook through, about 10-15 minutes, until no longer ink inside.

Serve the hot meatballs over the creamy cabbage slaw. Garnish with peanuts and sliced green onions.

Homemade Meatball Pizza

Remember last week when I posted pictures of raw meatballs, and you went all Jimmy-Fallon-as-Sara-no-H-'cause-H's-are-EWWWW on me? Well this time I have managed to cook said meatballs, chop them up and put them on a savory pizza. All is right in the world again. Of all the pizza in all the land, Andrew's all-time fave is meatball pizza. He has proclaimed that he could eat it every single day. Who am I to deny that request? Okay, so not every. single. day. But I'm down to indulge quite often myself! So thaw out a few of those freezer meatballs you made and serve them atop your next pizza. Pizza pies for everyone!

Meatball Pizza

Ingredients:

• 4-5 large meatballs, cooked and sliced
• 1 ball pizza dough
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. Italian herbs
• 1/2 cup marinara sauce
• 10-12 mini mozzarella balls, smashed or crumbled with your hands
• fresh basil for garnish

Preheat a pizza stone in your oven or on your grill to 400 degrees F.  Sprinkle some corn meal on your work surface and work your dough out to a large circle. Drizzle with olive oil and Italian seasoning. Place on pizza stone and cook for 5 minutes until slightly bubbly.

After 5 minutes, spread the sauce onto the pizza crust using a large spoon. Top with the sliced meatballs and mozzarella. Bake/grill until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly (time will vary).

Remove from heat, sprinkle with fresh basil and slice. Wait a couple of minutes before serving to avoid the burning-the-roof-of-your-mouth syndrome.

Freezer Meatballs

It's Friday. I've got my future-sister-in-law in town. Two of my girlfriends from Iowa are flying in this morning.  My best friend just had her baby girl on Tuesday. It's my birthday this weekend. And I'm getting the girls together for some wedding dress shopping tomorrow. I'm basically the luckiest girl in the world right now. If I could only freeze this moment in time and just stay in it forever, I probably would. Like a Saved By the Bell time-out. Zac Morris style. You know what else I could freeze? These meatballs. Horrible segway, I know.

Meatballs are basically considered a food group in my household. They come in all forms, with a variety of meats, add-ons, and even sauces to go with. I realize now that photographing raw meat is not appealing whatsoever, so bare with me here. The point is that you make these raw meatballs, freeze them, and then cook them when you're in need of a quick last minute meal. This recipe made 3 batches for me, so I froze two of them and cooked the third, slicing the meatballs and tossing them onto a pizza. Divine.

Freezer Meatballs

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 2 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
• 1 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 slices bread
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 2 tbsp. freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1 lb. 85/15 ground beef
• 1 lb. ground pork
• 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 1/2 tsp. fennel seeds

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Cook the onion for about 4 minutes until softened. Add in the parsley and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and cook for another minute. 

Remove from heat and toss in the sage and basil. Let cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, soak the bread in the milk in a small bowl. Set aside. 

Once the onion mixture has cooled, place into a large mixing bowl. Add in the egg, parmesan, beef, and pork. Squeeze the excess milk out of the bread and crumble into the bowl. Using your hands, mix all of the ingredients together until well combined. 

Form meatballs using your hands, slightly larger than a golf ball. Place into airtight containers and freeze for up to 6 months.

To cook, thaw overnight in the fridge. Heat up 1-2 tbsp. olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the meatballs an all sides until brown. Pour a cup of marinara sauce into the skillet, cover and bake at 350 degrees F in the oven for 20-25 minutes until cooked through. 

Turkey Parm Sandwiches

This daylight savings situation is really cramping my good photography style. I have increasingly started serving dinner earlier and earlier, hoping that my boyfriend won't notice. But now he's probably reading this, so my plan is screwed. Actually, he is really sweet and before he digs in to almost any meal, he will pause and ask, "did you get some good pics?". Sometimes the answer is yes, but as it gets darker and darker, earlier and earlier, it's getting harder and harder to get a good shot. Luckily I am off weekdays from work this month, so you better believe I'll be taking advantage of the sun and it's magical photo powers. But I can't complain too much since Arizona doesn't participate in this time-change non-sense. I also can't complain about these turkey parm sandwiches. We love chicken parm in this house; see here and here. But this time, I threw a curve ball into the mix and turned your classic turkey burger into Italian royalty. 

Turkey Parm Sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. ground turkey
• 1/2 cup marinara sauce, separated
• 3 tsp. freshly chopped basil, separated
• 3/4 cup flour
• salt and pepper
• 1 large egg, whisked
• 1 tsp. water
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 2 thick slices mozzarella cheese
• 2 burger buns, halved & slightly toasted
• 2 lettuce leaves

In a medium bowl, mix together the turkey, 2 tbsp. marinara, 1 1/2 tsp. basil, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Form 2 burger patties and set aside.

Now you will make an assembly line for coating the burgers. Take 3 shallow bowls and in the 1st bowl, put the flour, the other 1 1/2 tsp. basil, salt and pepper. In the 2nd bowl, whisk together the egg and the water. In the 3rd bowl goes the bread crumbs.

Preheat a large skillet or grill pan to medium high- heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray or pour a little bit of olive oil.

Coat the burgers one patty at a time. First in the flour, then the egg, and then finally the bread crumbs. Once coated, place onto the hot skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes before flipping to the other side. Cook for another 3 minutes. In the last minute of cooking time, place a slice of the mozzarella cheese on top of the burgers and top with  the remaining marinara sauce.

To serve, place lettuce on the bottom of the toasted bun. Top with the turkey parm patties and the bun top.

Asian Turkey Quinoa Meatballs

It's Monday. Did we all survive the first weekend of August? I can persoanlly tell you that I did more than survive, I thrived! My boyfriend and I have been laying pretty low recently since we are house shopping, but Friday night we decided to treat ourselves to a date night. We ventured out to the Angry Crab Shack in Mesa, AZ, and this place did not disappoint. I tried oysters for the first time, and then our waiter plopped down 2 lb. dungeness crab in a bag with seasonings on our wax paper covered table, handed us some crab leg cracking tools, and off he went. We just laughed and laughed at how ridiculously messy the whole thing was, and I can't remember the last time I just forgot about everything; work, house hunting, etc. and just focused on having fun with my best friend. 

So I realize that these might not be the prettiest things I have ever photographed. But I am also not really sure how you can style brown meatballs with brown glaze, and make it look as appetizing as it is in real life. And can I just say, these were delicious. If I may suggest one thing, the sauce can be a bit salty, so if you are sensitive to over-salting foods, go for low-sodium ingredients, that way you are the judge at how salty your meal it. These were a great, and light, summer meal, and paired with a summer medley of veggies, I didn't feel guilty going for another meatball or two! Plus, they are packed with protein from the turkey and quinoa, which was a better choice after than the gym, when all I really wanted was a large pizza. Because; pizza. But seriously, I love these Asian inspired meatballs, and hope you do too!

Asian Turkey Quinoa Meatballs

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1 cup cooked quinoa (1/2 cup dried quinoa, cooked, and cooled)
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 egg, whisked in a separate bowl
• 2 small cloves garlic, minced
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1/8 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. chili powder
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp. oil

Sauce

• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 4 tbsp. rice vinegar
• 1/4 tsp. sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. chili powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 

In a large bowl, combine the turkey, quinoa, panko, sesame oil, egg, green onion, ginger, salt, chili powder, and pepper. Mix well with hands and then form into golf ball sized meatballs.

Preheat oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add in the meatballs to the hot pan, browning on all sides. Once the meatballs have browned, add them to a baking dish and cover with foil. Finish cooking them in the oven for about 10 more minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together all of the sauce ingredients and then cook in a small sauce pan, whisking occasionally until thickened and reduced.

Serve hot meatballs over a bed of freshly grilled vegetables and top with the thickened Asian sauce.