Pesto Meatballs
I’ve always loved meatballs. Even today, we have meatballs on the menu once a week! There is something so wonderful about a tender meatball that melts in your mouth and brings a satisfying sense of fullness after eating. My favorite way to eat them isn’t with pasta though, it’s swimming in flavorful sauce and scooped up with crusty bread. A nice pile of tangy lettuce is the perfect compliment to the savory meal. It tastes rich, but in reality it’s chock’o block full of lean protein that fills us up without weighing us down too much.
Ingredients:
Makes 8 servings
2 pounds ground turkey
1 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pesto (storebought is fine as long as it has an olive oil base or you can blend 1 cup basil with 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt)
2 teaspoons italian seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
fresh pepper
1 25 ounce jar of your favorite marinara sauce
8 ounces mozzarella, torn into chunks
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the two eggs until frothy. Add the breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, pesto, italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper and mix well. Add the ground turkey and use your hands to gently mix it all together. Roll them into balls about 2 tablespoons in size and put them on the baking sheet. Put them in the oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes, until starting to get golden on the top. Take a 9x13 baking dish and pour half the marinara in it. Place the meatballs in the sauce and pour the rest over top. Tear pieces of the mozarella and place them scattered over top. Put it back in the oven until bubbly and the cheese is melted. Enjoy!
