Turkey Bolognese

I found this cook book on Amazon.

If you are familiar with the Boston area you know that the North End is the place to go for Italian food. This book is all authentic recipes from Italian families who came from Italy to Boston. I like it because the recipes are easy to make and have simple yet fresh and flavorful ingredients.

I decided to try the bolognese sauce and use ground turkey instead of a ground beef/pork mix because I had the turkey in the house.

As expected this sauce was easy to make and there is a lot of room to experiment with your own ingredients. Next time I am going to use a little less red pepper flakes - it was a little too spicy! 

Be prepared to feed and army. This recipe makes a HUGE batch of sauce. Luckily it get's even better as leftovers the next day :) It would also be amazing in a lasagna or baked ziti dish.

Recipe adapted from The North End Italian Cookbook

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• 1  lb cooked pasta
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1  lb ground turkey
• 3  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  small onion, diced
• 1  tablespoon each: dried basil, dried mint, red pepper flakes
• 1  6 ounce can of tomato paste
• 1  cup dry white wine
• 1 28 ounce can of peeled tomatoes
• 1/2  teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Salt and fresh ground pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pot. Add the ground turkey and cook over high heat until partially browned - stir/break up the meat often with a wooden spoon.

While the meat is browning dice your onion and mince your garlic.

When the meat is browned add the onion, garlic and seasonings.

Continuing cooking until the meat is a little crisp on the bottom. Lower the heat and add the tomato paste. Stir constantly until incorporated.

Add the wine. Cook over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring often.

Add the peeled tomatoes. Keep stirring over medium-high heat until bubbling.

Lower the heat and adjust seasonings. Add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Simmer for 10-15 minutes stirring every few minutes.

Add 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Simmer for another 5 minutes.

See I told you it makes enough to feed an army!!

Add the cooked pasta and mix gently.

Serve with some cheesy garlic bread...and a nice BIG glass of wine!!

FYI...This sauce freezes really well too!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

I love this recipe.

I got it from my Mom (thanks Mom!) because I always loved it when she made them when I lived at home. I didn't really know at the time what was in it and when she told me I was a little unsure of the sauce but trust me IT IS DELICIOUS!

What I really like about it though is how it can be used as a main course or served as an appetizer. If you want a dinner out of it make larger meatballs, serve over rice and add a vegetable or salad on the side. If you want an appetizer make small meatballs and serve with toothpicks. I haven't tried it yet but I'm sure you could cook these in a crockpot as well! The options are clearly endless.

Feel free to get wild and even switch up the type of meat you use. My Mom typically uses ground beef because that is what my Dad likes but I  have tried it with ground turkey as well and they came out really good. The ground beef was easier make the meatballs with but I found was a little bit drier after cooking. Next time I will shorten the cooking time by 5 minutes or so and that should solve that problem. The turkey meatballs are a little more difficult to form (keep a bowl of water nearby and wet your hands after every few meatballs) but once they were cooked they were perfect! It is really is just a personal preference - get crazy and mix a few different kinds of meat together! And then please let me know how they turned out :)

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

- around 1lb of ground beef (or turkey, or pork, or a mix of any ground meat really)

- 1 egg

- 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic

- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (check out my homemade breadcrumbs!)

- 1/2 tablespoon basil

- 1 teaspoon black pepper

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 1 14oz can of whole berry cranberry sauce

- 1 12oz jar of chili sauce

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl mix together the ground beef, egg, garlic, breadcrumbs, basil, black pepper, and salt. I always mix by hand because it is easier to get all the ingredients combined in the least amount of time. I am a firm believer that the more you mix the firmer your meatballs will be! Mix as little as possible.

Form the mixture into whatever size meatballs you want to make.

Now this is where it got weird for me...When I think of chili sauce I think hot and spicy. That is not the case here. Trust me.

Empty the jar of chili sauce and the can of whole cranberry sauce into a bowl. Stir to combine.

Pour the mixture right over your meatballs.

Bake for 30 minutes COVERED. 


I served mine over some brown rice with a side of Caramelized Lemon Brussel Sprouts.

If you can contain yourself and save some leftovers they taste even better the next day!

Asian Turkey Meatballs

I was reading one of my favorite blogs, The Girl Who Ate Everything, and I found this recipe for Asian Turkey Meatballs with a Lime Dipping Sauce. I thought they would be a really great meal to make for our Tuesday girls night and I was right...They were a huge hit! I served them on top of brown rice and sauteed some green beans. 

Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything:

Makes 12 meatballs; Serving size 3 meatballs (229.1 calories)

1/4 cup Panko crumbs (I didn't have Panko so I just used regular breadcrumbs)
1-1/4 lbs (20 ounces) 93% lean ground turkey
1 egg
1 tablespoon ginger, minced  (I bought minced ginger from the grocery store)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 scallions, chopped
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil

Lime Dipping Sauce 
4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons water
1 chopped fresh scallion

Directions:
Preheat oven to 500°F.

Mix ground turkey, panko, egg, salt, scallions, ginger, cilantro, 1 tbsp soy sauce, and 2 tsp oil and mix with your hands until combined well. Shape 1/4 cup meat mixture into a ball and transfer to a baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Repeat with remaining mixture. Bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes.

For the dipping sauce mix together lime juice, water, soy sauce, and remaining 1 teaspoon of oil in a bowl. Add scallions.

Transfer meatballs to a serving dish. Stir sauce, then drizzle meatballs with 1 tablespoon sauce. Serve meatballs with remaining sauce.

For my green beans I just sauteed them in a pan with olive oil, minced garlic and crushed red pepper flakes. Once the beans were cooked but still slightly crunchy I added lemon juice and toasted slivered almonds.

Last, we washed it all down with some delicous Gnarly Head Cabernet Sauvignon. I never used to drink red wine before I tried this kind!