Turkey Meatballs, Italian Style

I'ts nearly the weekend! And I can't think of any better way to celebrate than with pasta.

Turkey mince makes cracking meatballs. I have waxed lyrical about it before with another recipe with Honey Sesame Sriracha Sauce.

Well, I was planning to make that again this weekend but then I made some killer Italian style bread and needed to dip it in a rich tomatoey sauce. So I changed tack and changed the flavour a little.

Dinner and bread

This was a triumph and I'll be doing it again. It's basically an extra saucey bolognese. The addition of the milk is something I've heard about and read about but I was always a little nervous to add it. But then I thought - milk is similar to cheese and I will happily heap Parmesan in there until I have to be physically stopped. So I put it in and it worked! It takes the bitterness out of the tomatoes and just leaves a lovely silky texture for the sauce.

Enjoy!

Chinese-Style Turkey Dumplings (Potstickers)

THESE ARE SO EASY. What a revelation. These are so great, simple, a little time consuming, but perfect for a weekend dinner when you have a little more time.

So, I won’t lie. I am not as fast at rolling and filling these as the people at my local dumpling joint. I could watch them make dumplings at lightning speed for hours. But I got it done. I watched a few videos for the rolling technique, but you really just have to get your hands on the dough and see what you can do.

Gorgeous little dumpling

A few things I learned - roll from the centre out, in one direction only, rotating the dough about a quarter turn after each (one) roll. This gets the most uniformly round dough circle.

Ta-da!

The good thing is, I’m going to let you into a secret.. They don’t need to be perfectly round! You can still fold them into a dumpling shape if you end up with a square, an oval, a rectangle, or something in between!  I rolled about 25, and hand on heart, I probably rolled 3 proper circles (the ones I photographed!)

For better photos of how to fold the dumplings (and bonus dipping sauce recipe!), see this previous post (where I used pre-madewrappers). The homemade ones are SO MUCH easier to fold, though.

Turkey Meatballs with Honey Sesame Sriracha Sauce

Taking a very short break from my regularly scheduled programming of cake and brownies.

Turkey mince is healthy, but it isn’t always the easiest meat to work with. I find that if you’re not careful, it can turn out a bit bland. Adding a highly flavoured sauce is the answer here. You cannot go wrong with spicy sesame, honey and paprika and it’s a combo that I rely on often. The sauce here is delicious and full of flavour, and would also be great with shredded chicken breasts.

I was also sceptical about cooking meatballs in the oven, I didn’t know how they would survive being cooked like that – and I was pleasantly surprised! They came out perfectly cooked and perfectly formed!

I made this as a main meal with rice and roasted veggies, but these meatballs would make an amazing pita sandwich. Just imagine them, stuffed inside the bread pocket with that sauce drizzled all over, some shredded red onion and salad to make an incredible lunch.

Makes 20

Mexican Style Pytt i Panna

Happy Valentine's day, my lovelies. This is not a themed post, however I think any date would be extremely happy with this cheesy, spicey, meaty, beany triumph served up for dinner! Equally, for the single among you, it is delicious eaten from a bowl, smothered in sriracha, in PJs in front of the TV. Seriously. It's amazing both ways.

I found this delicious-looking recipe a few weeks ago and it reminded me so much of pytt i panna that I had to give it a whirl (with my own tweaks!). Full disclosure – I had planned to make this way  earlier in the year, but have you ever tried buying turkey mince in early January (aka diet season)? Can’t be done.  The shelves are empty.

So, I had to wait a good few weeks to actually find the damn ingredients for this bad boy. I didn’t really know what to expect with this meal, but I love one-pot meals. So once everyone's diets had lapsed I managed to get the mince in my possession and I made it immediately!

This is an interesting concoction, like a Mexican-spiced pytt i panna mixed with lasagne. I am a big fan – it’s comforting, spicy, and packed full of my favourite things (sweet potatoes not least!). I also like the versatility, just put in the veggies and beans you like – I made it once with pinto beans and once with sweetcorn, and I think next time I’m going to put BOTH in. Whoa, calm down, son.

Easy to serve up, I have gone with salad leaves for a quick side, and paired it with guacamole the second time. Also would be amazing with baked sweet potato or served on top of a tortilla wrap.

I’m getting really hungry just typing this up. That’s how good this meal is.