I know, I know....I say it all the time but this recipe is truly so easy and really really good. Turkey anything is usually associated with dry and bland but these are neither! The olive oil in the pesto keeps the meatballs moist and using dark meat ground turkey adds just enough fat. With only a few ingredients these come together quickly. Fresh pesto would be awesome but seeing as its winter I went with the jarred stuff from the grocery store. Just make sure you like the taste of the pesto, buying good quality makes a difference here. If you like the pesto, you will like the meatballs. I served these on top of angel hair pasta with a dollop of ricotta cheese, a dollop of pesto, and some arugula swirled together (a pinch of salt and pepper too). This was a really rich and filling meal that is actually quite light.
What you need:
1 lb ground dark meat turkey
1 egg
3 tbsp good quality pesto
Pinch of salt and pepper
1/3 cup bread crumbs or cracker crumbs
Mix all ingredients together gently and form into balls approx 1.5 inches
Bake at 350° for approx 20-25 minutes or until thermometer inserted in a meatball on middle of pan reaches 160...will finish cooking while resting, should finish at 165. I like to drizzle a little extra olive oil/pesto on top at the end to make them prettier. These reheat amazingly for leftovers too!
*cracker crumbs are what I always use because I always have them and it seems superfluous to buy bread crumbs, plus I usually don’t feel like getting out the food processor. A good buttery cracker works perfectly and with a potato masher you will have crumbs in seconds.