It's Wednesday! Which means it's odd food night. I wanted to do another pasta with a cream sauce, mostly so I could use another finishing salt, but was also obsessed with the ground turkey I picked up the other day. Throw in some parmesan cheese and blammo! Supper! Using ground turkey and whole wheat pasta means I get to call this a Somewhat Healthier Version, yay!
You will need:
2 tsp olive oil (NOT ever EVOO)
360g ground turkey ( I would suggest 1/2 lb, but that's what I used)
1 lg slice stale whole grain, whole wheat bread
1/3 c 1% milk
1 tsp thyme, divided
Salt, pepper, basil
4 cloves roasted garlic (you know, if you have some kicking around), optional
1/2 oz parmesan cheese - about 14 g if that helps. I know, not really.
1/2 red onion
1/2 red pepper
4 garlic cloves
1/2 c wine
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 c chicken stock
1 c homogenized milk
170 g whole wheat spaghettini (about half a small box)
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| Not pictured: stock. Dang it |
Prep! Breaking with my usual prep-absolutely-everything-in-advance style, I like to get the meatballs started right away, as they take a little while and afford all kind of time to get everything else prepped.
First, soak your stale bread in the 1/3 c of 1% or skim milk. Throw the turkey, the roasted garlic if using, 1/2 of the parmesan cheese (so 1/4 ounce. I know), 1/2 of the thyme, salt, pepper an some basil into the bowl of a stand mixer.
When all of the milk is absorbed into the bread, add it to the mixer bowl and blend with the paddle for 2 minutes. This style of making meatballs with milk-soaked bread is called using a panade, and I usually prefer it to using an egg and crackers as binding agents. Not always! But today.
After two minutes, start rolling the mixture into teaspoon-sized balls, basically bite-sized. Ish. It's your mouth, judge yourself accordingly. When you are about half done, heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a large saucepan (NOT non-stick. sticky) and drop them into the hot pan in a single layer. No crowding! Crowding means steaming and stewing and we just want luscious browning. On all sides, please!
While the meatballs are doing their thing, go ahead and finish your prep. Chop your onion and red pepper into a large dice, mince your garlic.
Heat the second teaspoon of oil, brown the second batch of meatballs; set all aside somewhere relatively warm. Add in the onions and red peppers. Ignore the mushrooms, I only had two so they don't really count. I bet a couple of cups worth would have been magic, though.
Cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes, or until almost softened. Add in the 4 cloves of minced garlic, cook for just one more minute. Just one! I mean it! Deglaze with the 1/2 of wine, stirring to scrape up delicious brown bits on the bottom
When the wine is just about gone, stir in the 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, some salt, pepper, the rest of the thyme and some basil.
Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the paste turns dark and starts to stick. Add in the cup of chicken stock. This is a good time to start boiling water for your pasta! I wanted to use angel-hair, but I couldn't find any whole wheat stuff, so I went with the finest whole wheat noodle I could find: spaghettini.
Scrape! Cook until reduced by half. Start adding in milk, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring all the while.
When all the milk is incorporated, let reduce until you can make a full trail across the middle with your spoon, about 7-10 minutes.
Add your meatballs back in, cover and warm through, about 5 minutes.
Drain your pasta! Plate and cover the pasta with the sauce. Finish with a little of the rest of the parmesan cheese and a wee dram of finishing salt. I am using Wild Porcini Sea Salt tonight, but any kind would work, I am sure.
Enjoy!
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