I’ve eaten my fair share of bland turkey meatballs posing as the real thing but these will make you forget all about those. I almost named them green meatballs because there are so many flavorful herbs packed in each bite but that didn’t sound very appetizing. 🙂 Serve with whole grain pasta and your favorite tomato sauce, on a leafy green salad as seen above, or with a side of mashed or roasted potatoes and green beans. Can even be used on a sandwich! 

1 meatball = 2 green lights, 1 yellow light

Serves 4

 Ingredients

  • 1 small onion, roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • 4 fresh sage leaves
  • 6 fresh basil leaves
  • Leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme
  • Leaves from a 5” sprig of rosemary
  • ¼ cup flat leaf parsley
  • 1 large handful arugula
  • 1 lb ground turkey

Tomato sauce: (can omit sauce and serve over a bed of arugula with a squeeze of lemon juice and olive oil or alongside greens beans and roasted potatoes)

  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 large fresh basil leaves
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 28 oz can pureed tomatoes

Directions

To make the sauce:

Heat oil over medium in a large saucepan. Add garlic, basil and salt and cook for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.

 

To make meatballs:

  1. Add onion, garlic, sage, basil, thyme, rosemary, parsley and arugula to a food processor and pulse until very finely chopped.
  2. Transfer mixture to a large bowl along with the turkey, season with salt and pepper. Combine well with hands careful not to overwork then roll into golf-ball size meatballs and place on a sheet pan.
  3. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-low and drizzle with olive oil. Sauté meatballs until golden on one side, carefully turn to sauté the other side, about 5 minutes per side.
  4. Transfer meatballs to sauce and simmer for 30 minutes until fully cooked. If serving without sauce transfer to a 350-degree oven and bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through.

These can be prepped ahead of time, or fully cooked and reheated for a weekday lunch or fast dinner.