Spaghetti and Meatballs

I have made Brit my spaghetti and meat sauce several times before, but I have never made her any meatballs. In fact, my meat sauce recipe is actually a meatball recipe that I converted because I kept failing at making meatballs correctly. I would get so antsy and anxious about cooking the meatballs correctly, that I kept cutting into to them to check if they were done, and by the time they were done, I had a pan full of ground meat and no meatballs. So, after a recent trip home where meatballs were made, I was determined to give it another try.

Meatballs

serves 4-6

1 lbs ground turkey
1 onion, 1/2 diced and 1/2 minced
6 garlic cloves, minced
3 carrots, diced
12 oz mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp sriracha
1 lemon, juiced
1 egg
Black pepper
Salt
Olive oil
1 can pasta sauce
1 package spaghetti
Parmesan cheese
1 large head of broccoli

Begin by boiling water for pasta and cook according to package instructions. Be sure to add olive oil and salt to the water, but only add the salt after the water has boiled.

Combine the turkey, minced onion, bread crumbs, ketchup, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, sriracha, lemon juice, egg, half of the garlic, and black pepper in a large bowl. Mix well by hand.

Saute the diced onion, remaining garlic, and carrots in a large pot. Season with a little salt and pepper. Once the onions are soft, add in the mushrooms and cook until most of liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated. Stir in the pasta sauce and simmer on low for a few minutes or turn off the heat altogether.

In a large and deep saute pan, heat 1-2 tbsp of olive oil. Form 1-2 inch diameter balls from the meat mixture and add to the hot oil. Cook no more than 5 minutes before carefully turning over and browning the other side for no more than 5 minutes. You don't want the meatballs to cook at this point, just brown the outside of them. I added another 1-2 tbsp of olive oil during the cooking process to help them brown a little faster. Finish cooking the meatballs by adding the veggies and sauce to the pan and simmer on low for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, steam some broccoli and season with a little salt and pepper. Serve the meatballs and sauce over the pasta. Garnish with parmesan cheese and dig in!

So, I successfully made meatballs and I'm so happy with how they turned out. Next time I'll even brown the meatballs for a little less time and I'll prob make the meatballs themselves a little smaller; they won't need as much time to cook anyways. I was experimenting when I added the sriracha and sadly it wasn't distinguishable at all. I'll add a bit more next time and see how it turns out.