I am not a fan of frozen spinach! I have never found a brand that doesn’t taste funky, kind of like the box or freezer burn. It just tastes gross to me. You can’t hide it in something like you hide vegetables for kids and think I won’t know. I will know it! Fresh is so much nicer and it takes about the same amount of time to prep as thawing frozen spinach. You will be converted!
Turkey doesn’t have to be rubbery and boring either. These meatballs are so flavorful and tender. They are moist on the inside and crunchy on the outside. They freeze beautifully so they’re a busy woman’s best friend. Once you have a bunch of these made, you can transform them into so many different meals.
They are great in meatball subs with pasta sauce and melted cheese, heated and crumbled over a salad made of Italian greens, veggies and cheese, or broken into smaller pieces and layered with your favorite pasta sauce and cheese for a quick lasagna. Can you tell I love cheese? The list goes on and on. Your family won’t know you made these all in one afternoon weeks ago. What will you do with all your free time? Bet that’s a long list too!
Preheat broiler. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with foil and coat with nonstick spray.
Sauté onions in a medium skillet until translucent and pour into large mixing bowl. Add the spinach to the skillet and wilt the leaves.
Rough chop the spinach and squeeze in paper towels to remove excess moisture. Make sure the spinach is very dry at this point.
Using your hands or a fork, gently mix egg, onion, garlic, turkey, spinach, Parmesan, breadcrumbs, parsley, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire Sauce, salt and pepper in a large bowl just until combined.
Gently combine the ingredients. Don’t over mix because meat that is mushed together gets kind of cranky and you’ll have tough meatballs.
Scoop out turkey mixture in a slight 1/4 cupful and form into balls (you should have about 35). Lightly roll the balls in the palm of your hand without pressure. You don’t want to compress the balls or they will be tough.
Place on prepared baking sheet with spacing about 2” apart. Slather them with olive oil so they get all crunchy and brown. And don’t crowd them. They like room to do their thing!
Broil meatballs, turning often, until browned all over and cooked through, 13–15 minutes depending on the size of your meatballs.
DO AHEAD: Meatballs can be made ahead and frozen for up to 3 months. Let cool completely and freeze individual portions in resealable plastic bags. Always date your bags so you know when they are about to expire. If they last that long!
A neat little trick when you date the bag is to put the date made / then the date they expire. This bag would have read 7/22/2014 – 10/22/2014 if I had remembered to do it! All I could think about was eating some of these!
Run under lukewarm water to loosen from bag and gently reheat in sauce, covered, until meatballs are warmed through and sauce is bubbling, 15–20 minutes.
- Nonstick vegetable oil spray
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1/3 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic finely chopped
- 2 pounds ground turkey, preferably 93% lean or less
- 2 cups steamed fresh spinach leaves, moisture drained. rough chopped
- 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan or Pecorino
- 1/4 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Preheat broiler. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with foil and coat with nonstick spray.
- Sauté onions in a medium skillet until translucent and pour into large mixing bowl.
- Add the spinach to the skillet and wilt the leaves.
- Rough chop the spinach and squeeze in paper towels to remove excess moisture. Make sure the spinach is very dry at this point.
- Using your hands or a fork, gently mix egg, onion, garlic, turkey, spinach, Parmesan, breadcrumbs, parsley, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper in a large bowl just until combined.
- Scoop out turkey mixture in a slight 1/4 cupful and form into balls (you should have about 35). Lightly roll the balls in the palm of your hand without pressure. You don’t want to compress the balls or they will be tough. Place on prepared baking sheet with spacing about 2” apart. Brush meatballs on all sides with olive oil.
- Broil meatballs, turning often, until browned all over and cooked through, 13–15 minutes depending on the size of your meatballs.
- DO AHEAD: Meatballs can be made ahead and frozen for up to 3 months. Let cool completely and freeze individual portions in resealable plastic bags. Always date your bags so you know when they are about to expire. A neat little trick when you date the bag is to put the date made / then the date they expire. Then you don't have to remember how many months this food item can be frozen.
- Run under lukewarm water to loosen from bag and gently reheat in sauce, covered, until meatballs are warmed through and sauce is bubbling, 15–20 minutes.
Looks yummy and a great tip on fast-combo meal basics!