Meatballs

............so probably, you being a normal person and all, you would eat these with "spaghetti" and "sauce", but I figure it's a little more approachable to do part of a recipe at a time than a whole meal.  Feel free to use your own sauce, sauce out of a jar, whatever you want!  It's all good.

I realize that this is one of the uglier photos I've taken, but come on, it's meatballs. 

The best thing about these meatballs is that they still have pork sausage, which makes it spicy, salty, and have that fatty mouth feel, but that the OTHER half is very very lean turkey.  Effectively, you have the best of both worlds, and can pretend in your head that it's diet food.  

In the sad and ignorant past, T and I used to pan fry the meatballs before adding to sauce for better looks and taste (throwing them directly into sauce ends up in them breaking all over the place and as well as a boiled, colorless exterior), but we eventually settled on broiling them for a few minutes instead.  This gives them a beautiful golden brown color, as well as the structural integrity to be finished off in the sauce!

Pork and Turkey Meatballs

(makes about 30 medium size meatballs)

:: 1 package pork sausage (I prefer hot Italian)

:: 1 package ground turkey

:: 1 1/2 cup bread crumbs

:: 1/4 cup shredded cheese (parmesan, romano, asiago, whatever hard cheese you have)

:: 2 eggs

:: 3 tbsp chopped parsley

:: pepper

Mix everything up in a bowl.  Don't overmix, just do it until everything is incorporated.  Roll into 1 1/2" balls.  Line up on ungreased cookie sheet, they can be very close as long as they're not touching.  

Place cookie sheet on top rack near broiler for about 5 minutes, flip and broil for another 5 minutes.  Watch so that they don't burn! 

Now they can go directly into the pot of whatever sauce you're making. These guys freeze beautifully as well, so this is a great meal to make if you're planning on a busy few weeks.