Homemade turkey meatballs with vodka sauce…it’s amore.
I like to pretend that Dean Martin was singing about my cooking in that song. Just kidding. Here’s another of my family dinner favorites! I won’t bore you on cooking the pasta for this dish because I’ll assume you know how to make it…al dente.
Ingredients you’ll need:
FOR THE MEATBALLS
1 lb ground turkey
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of pepper (optional)
1-2 tsp of poultry seasoning
1 tbs of finely chopped parsley
1 egg
1 1/2 tbs of bread crumbs
FOR THE VODKA SAUCE
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
3 minced cloves of garlic
28oz can of whole tomatoes
1 chopped sweet onion
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp of salt
1/3 cup vodka
1 tbs tomato paste
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup freshly chopped basil
1/2 cup of half and half
3 tbs grated parmesan
For your meatballs…
Preheat oven to 400
In a mixing bowl, combine all of the meatball ingredients until they are thoroughly mixed together.
On a baking sheet lined with paper (I use wax paper), for the meatballs and place them 2 inches apart.
Once your oven is preheated, place the pan of meatballs in for 20 minutes. While this is cooking, begin your sauce.
For your sauce…
In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook until soft. Approx 3 minutes, then add the pepper flakes for an additional minute.
Stir in the tomatoes and vodka and cook for about 5 minutes until slightly reduced. Stir in the balsamic, pepper, and tomato paste now. Reduce heat to low, partially cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes until reduced by 1/2.
Now transfer your sauce mixture to a food processor or blender, add basil and purée until smooth. Then put the mixture back in the pan, add the half and half, Parmesan, and cook until all meted and mixed together.
Wah-la!
Fill your plate with pasta (or zucchini noodles, yum). Top the meatballs with the vodka sauce and parsley. That’s amore. 🍝✨
