TURKEY MEATBALLS

Small changes can make all the difference. For instance, try swapping beef for turkey mince to make a weekday supper favourite of mine – meatballs with spaghetti in tomato sauce.

Turkey is very lean – about two per cent fat for breast mince, and about seven per cent fat for the thigh mince, while beef mince can be up to 20 per cent fat. So it’s a great choice if you’re watching your waistline, and it’s about half the price of lean steak mince.

I chose the turkey thigh in this recipe as it’s more flavourful and moist than breast, but either way, once it’s combined with all the punchy flavours, you really don’t register the switch.

INGREDIENTS:

For the turkey balls 500g minced turkey thigh meat 2 cloves garlic, minced Small bunch of fresh parsley, chopped 1 egg, beaten 1 tsp dried oregano 50g fine breadcrumbs For the sauce 1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes 1 onion, diced 1 clove garlic, minced Olive oil and 250g spaghetti

Soften the onion and garlic for 10 minutes in a large pan with a dash of olive oil, then add the tin of tomatoes and the basil, season to taste and simmer for 20 minutes. Mix all of the turkey ball ingredients in a bowl, season to taste and roll by hand into small 1in ball shapes. It should make about 25-30. Fry the balls on a high heat in batches with some oil for about 6-7 minutes until brown on the outside. Boil your spaghetti ready to serve with the sauce and turkey balls. Once spaghetti is cooked, add it to the sauce and stir, top with turkey balls and garnish with fresh parsley and olive oil.