Chicken and Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, sliced
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped from the stems
- 2 shallots or ½ an onion, finely diced
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
- ⅓ teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
- Salt and pepper
- 1 cup whole-grain breadcrumbs, plus,
- 2 tablespoons whole-grain breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons stock or water
- ¼ pound ground chicken
- ¼ pound ground turkey
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon ground almonds (optional)
- 2 cups tomato sauce, heated through (see Chef Tips)
Directions
- Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a small skillet over a medium-high flame. When it is hot, add the garlic. Cook until golden, then discard. This will flavor the oil.
- Add the thyme to the oil and cook for 1 minute. Add the shallots and turn the heat down to medium-low, and cook until the shallots start to turn golden. Do not let them burn! Set aside.
- Beat the egg. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, mix the cup of breadcrumbs with the stock or water.
- In a large bowl combine the ground chicken and turkey with the cooked shallots and parsley, mix with a spatula. Mix in the beaten egg. Gradually add in the ground almonds, if using, and then the breadcrumbs, a little at a time. If using ground almonds, you may not need all of the breadcrumbs. Mix well. Add a little water if it seems too stiff or dry.
- Lay a sheet of parchment or wax paper on your work surface and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs. Using a full tablespoon, spoon the meat mixture it into balls with your hands then gently roll them in the breadcrumbs. Set aside on a plate. Repeat until all the meat mixture is used up.
- Coat 2 teaspoons of the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot cook the meatballs in batches until they are browned all over, drizzling a little more oil into the pan as needed. Set them aside on a clean plate as you cook them. At this point, you can freeze the meatballs for a future meal.
- For pasta, when all the meatballs are cooked, tip them into the tomato sauce and cook gently for about 10 minutes. Eat with the whole-grain pasta of your choice and a grating of fresh Parmesan.