Little turkey meatballs are always appealing, especially in this cacciatore sauce
Meatballs are so intensely satisfying, you can almost do anything with them and they’ll be perfectly wonderful. They’re especially good simmered in an Italian cacciatore sauce made with mushrooms (the name means “hunter”). Some cooks add bell peppers to the cacciatore pan, along with white wine, but both are omitted here because peppers overpower the flavor of these little turkey meatballs and the dish isn’t complex enough to need wine. The meatballs are small, about the size of walnuts, so you don’t feel bad if you ladle half a dozen onto your plate. You need fresh white breadcrumbs, which you can make in a food processor from a dinner roll or hamburger bun. It seems like a lot of crumbs — 2 cups for 1 pound of ground turkey — but once you soften them in milk, then mix them with the meat, a tiny bit of finely chopped onion, Parmesan, and parsley, you have a mixture that is tender and quite light.
Use wet hands to shape the rounds and cook them in a hot oven, spread out on a parchment-lined baking sheet until they're golden brown. Transfer them to a homemade tomato sauce with plenty of sauteed button and shiitake mushrooms and oregano, and serve as is or spoon them over angel hair. The dish is loaded with flavor. And, as with every plate of meatballs, fun to eat.
Turkey Meatballs Cacciatore
Serves 4
MEATBALLS
2 cups fresh white breadcrumbs (made from a large soft dinner roll or hamburger bun)
½ cup milk, or more if needed
1 egg
1 pound ground turkey
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Olive oil (for sprinkling)
1. Set the oven at 450 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper that goes partway up the sides of the pan. Press the paper into the bottom edges to flatten it. Have on hand a bowl of cold water.
2. In a bowl large enough to hold all the meatball ingredients, combine the breadcrumbs and milk. Stir well to form a soft paste. Add more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, if necessary, to moisten the crumbs.
Set aside for 10 minutes.
3. Add the egg, turkey, salt, pepper, Worcestershire, onion, Parmesan, and parsley. Mix with a clean hand until blended. Take care not to overwork the mixture.
4. With a spoon, take a walnut-sized scoop of the mixture. Wet your hands. Roll the mixture into a ball and set it on the baking sheet. Continue until all the meatballs have been formed. You should have 24 meatballs. Brush the meatballs lightly with olive oil.
5. Bake the meatballs for 15 minutes. Use tongs to turn them and sprinkle with oil. Return to the oven and continue baking for 10 minutes more, or until they are golden brown and a meat thermometer inserted into the center of a meatballs registers 165 degrees. (Total meatball cooking time is 25 minutes.)
SAUCE
2 tablespoons olive oil
12 ounces mixed button and shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps thinly sliced
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 can (28 ounces) chopped tomatoes
1½ cups chicken stock, or more if needed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
Pinch of crushed red pepper, or more to taste
Extra sprigs fresh oregano (for garnish)
1. In a large flameproof casserole over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add the mushrooms with a generous pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes, or until the mushrooms collapse and start to brown.
2. Add the garlic and tomato paste. Cook, stirring, 1 minute more. Add the tomatoes with their liquid and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, or until the mixture is thoroughly blended. Add the stock, chopped oregano, and red pepper. Bring it to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste the sauce for seasoning and add more salt and red pepper, if you like.
3. Transfer the meatballs to the sauce and carefully turn them in the liquid until they are coated all over. Bring to boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Ladle the meatballs and sauce into bowls and garnish with oregano.