Summer Turkey Meatballs with Angel Hair! Get ready, it's a keeper.
Today's Summer Turkey Meatballs with Angel Hair are a tribute to the days spent at the club with my fam, but with the addition of these lightened up summer turkey meatballs that you'll soon be obsessed with. Promise!
Have I ever told you guys about Italian night at our country club back in Tucson? Long story short, there was Italian night every Thursday at our club and we'd go on the regular because it meant my mom didn't have to cook dinner, we each got to order whatever we wanted, and someone else did the dishes. It was basically my favorite night of the week and every single week I'd order the exact same thing... angel hair pasta with tons of olive oil, heaps of sautéed garlic and parmesan cheese. That's it. I LOVED garlic and angel hair and anything else that came with it. It was my go-to for years!
We're adding these lightened up summer turkey meatballs which I would venture to say will become a staple in your house!! And word to the wise - this recipe calls for ground turkey meat - I usually buy the dark meat because it packs WAY more flavor... but truth be told, you can use any ground turkey meat you prefer. Or ground chicken. Choose your own adventure 🙂
And while I am an equal opportunity carb consumer, and have ZERO problem with angel hair, you can use any style of pasta you prefer for this recipe! Skies the limit.
Summertime Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 1 pound 85% ground dark meat turkey
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 shallot finely diced
- ¼ cup chives finely chopped
- ¼ cup shredded parmesan
- ¼ cup finely diced sun dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- ¼ cup olive oil
For the pasta
- 1 lb angel hair
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pints cherry tomatoes halved
- 4 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Transfer the ground turkey to a large bowl, and add in garlic, shallots, chives, parmesan, sun dried tomatoes, red pepper flakes, salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Using your hands, incorporate everything together. Make sure everything is evenly incorporated without over mixing the ground turkey.
- Form the mixture into small meatballs, just smaller than a golf ball.
- Heat the olive oil in a large heavy bottom skillet over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, add half of the meatballs and sauté for 3-4 minutes, turning every so often to brown the outside and then continue cooking through for about 6 minutes more. Once the meatballs are cooked, remove them from the oil and repeat the process with the remaining meatballs.
- In a large skillet, heat the 4 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat. Add the cherry tomatoes and saute until they start to fall apart. Add the chopped garlic and season with salt and pepper.
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and combine all the elements into a summer meatball pasta.
Delicious! Couldn’t believe how juicy the meatballs were. Going to be a summer fav for sure
Made this last night, and we loved it. Next time gonna use only ½ lb of pasta (just the 2 of us).
Incredible! Thanks so much for the recipe!
light, easy and delicious. we baked the meatballs, wouldve been better as written in recipe but easier for us to throw on a cookie sheet w/ parchment and bake.
So delicious!! However, my meatballs fell apart. Any recommendations?!
Moist meatballs! I used 97/3 on the Turkey, dropped the sun dried tomatoes and served over cauliflower rice with thinly sliced fennel. The flavors were delish. Definitely a keeper.
This was DELICIOUS!! Fairly easy to make. I could not find ground turkey with the correct fat content. My meatballs were a little dry because of it, but still tasty.
Yes please!!
This needs to be a regular!
Love your story! Is there an alternative to using sun dried tomatoes? I think I am allergic to them. I had a terrible reaction after eating a simple pasta dish that included them.
They all look & sound so yummy.