Herbed Turkey Meatballs

My kids love canned cranberry sauce.  I had a can in the pantry (I mean basement shelf, since I really don't have a "pantry") that I was looking to use.  When I went recipe searching I found these meatballs and knew that I was going to make them.  I think I've mentioned how much I like meatballs.  Meatballs, meatloaf.....I guess I just like meat mixed with various "stuff"! Recently I've been using ground turkey in place of recipes that call for ground beef, both for health reasons and cost reasons.  Now this recipe also has the ingredients and directions to make a homemade cranberry sauce, which I obviously didn't make, because we were having CANNED sauce (but I included the original recipe with the sauce below)!  These were pretty easy to put together and quick to cook.  I served these with mashed red potatoes and the cranberry sauce.  The kids were so-so about eating these but my husband and I thought that they were tasty!

Herbed Turkey Meatballs
Recipe slightly adapted from Pink Parsley

Serves 4

Ingredients:
•1 Tbs unsalted butter
•1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
•1 stalk celery, finely choped
•1 lb ground turkey
•1 cup fresh bread crumbs
•1 egg
•1 Tbs dried oregano
•1 tsp salt free poultry seasoning
•1/2 tsp kosher salt
•1/4 tsp black pepper
•2/3 cup orange juice
•1 shallot, minced
•1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
•1/4 cup sugar

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees, and lightly oil a baking sheet.

In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and celery, and cook until softened, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, combine the celery and onion, turkey, bread crumbs, egg, oregano, poultry seasoning, parsley, salt, and pepper. Gently mix to incorporate with your hands. Using a cookie scoop, form the mixture in meatballs, and arrange them on the baking sheet.

Bake 10 minutes, until cooked through.

Meanwhile, make the cranberry sauce. combine the orange juice, shallot, cranberries, and sugar in a medium skillet. Cook over medium heat, until the cranberries pop and the mixture begins to thicken slightly, about 5 minutes.

Serve the meatballs with the cranberry sauce.
 
Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.