Turkey Meatball Sandwich

Some things seem difficult until you actually do them. For me, having a pet is one. Now I have two cats. Cooking is another. I like taking on a challenge, but I'm still intimidated by recipes with a long list of ingredients. Making meatballs always seem magic to me. How do they taste so good??

Answer: lots of herbs. Don't mix too much. Just the right amount of bread crumbs so it holds together, but not too dry.

Now that I've made them a couple times, I realized it's simple enough to throw together for a weekday dinner. Get all the ingredients together. Mix in a bowl. Coat it with bread crumbs (this makes a nice crunch that my husband loves). Bake. Done.

But you gotta have good sauce. I love marinara sauce. I'm still experimenting, but this easy marinara sauce is pretty good. Scoop a big heap of it on the meatballs.

Add some grilled mushrooms.

Top it off with cheese. Don't forget the cheese.

Broil in the oven for two minutes or until melted. Add the top back on.

Turkey Meatballs

Makes 15 meatballs

1/2 lb ground turkey

1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, defrosted

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1 egg

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup bread crumbs, divided

2 tbsp olive oil. 

Mix ground turkey, spinach, Parmesan, egg, and spices in a large bowl. Add 1/4 cup of bread crumbs and mix. Make 15 golf ball sized meatballs. Roll each meatball in the remaining bread crumbs. Drizzle 1 tbsp of olive oil on a baking pan. Place the meatballs in the pan. Drizzle the remaining olive oil on top of the meatballs. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Easy Marinara Sauce

Makes 1 1/2 cups 

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

14.5 oz (1 can) diced tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

Salt & pepper

Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pan. Add onion and garlic and cook for three minutes, or until softened. Add diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Mix in oregano and basil. Cook on medium low for thirty minutes. Stir occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Turkey Meatball Sandwiches

Makes 4 sandwiches

4 large dinner rolls
1 1/2 cup Easy Marinara Sauce
4 turkey meatballs

4 button mushrooms, sliced and grilled

4 slices provolone cheese

Assemble sandwich: cut roll into half. Add a spoonful of marinara sauce. Then stack the sandwich with meatballs, more marinara sauce, mushrooms, and cheese. Broil in the oven for two minutes or until cheese melted. Put the other half of the roll on top.