Sweet & Spicy Turkey Meatballs
A little sugar and spice will make your Holiday Entertaining a sweet delight!
Holiday entertaining continues!
Transform meatballs into tantalizing savory bites substituting ground turkey (healthier choice) instead of red meat and adding chopped cranberries, rosemary, and granny smith apple to add both flavor and texture. Homemade raspberry jalapeño glazed jam adds a sweet and spicy tang to further enhance each bite.
An important aspect for entertaining guests during the holidays is time management. Therefore, I personally love recipes which can be prepared in advanced. A couple of days prior to my holiday gathering, I make these delicious meatballs and warm 30 minutes prior to my guests arrival. Another time saving, bite size appetizer recipe which can be prepared in advance is last year's recipe for goat cheese stuffed with grapes rolled onto dried cranberries, pistachios or roasted hazelnut. Both these appetizers carry the festive flavors and sights of the holidays!
Hope you enjoyed last weeks recipe for Jelly Rolls. All month long, I will be sharing with you items on the menu for my Holiday party. I love these recipes and can't wait for you to give them a try as well!
Serves 8-10 for appetizers
Ingredients:
1 lb organic ground turkey breast
1 small onion (chopped into large cubes)
1/2 cup cranberries
1 granny smith apple (chore removed)
1 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1 teaspoon each sea salt and ground black pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary (or 1teaspoon dried)
1/2 cup cooking oil for frying
Sauce:
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberry
1 cup sugar
1 jalapeño; seeds removed and finely chopped
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
Garnish with rosemary sprigs and fresh cranberries
In a saucepan over medium low heat, combine sugar, raspberries, jalapeños and salt. Stir occasionally until raspberries fall apart and sauce is slightly thickened (5-10 minutes). Taste for sweetness (more sugar might be needed if raspberries are very tart; add 1/4 cup of sugar at a time until sauce is sweet to taste). Turn heat off and set aside to cool. Strain sauce; discard pulp.
Using a food processor, finely chop cranberries, onions and apple together. Add to the mix turkey, bread crumbs, egg, rosemary, salt and pepper. Pulse 6-8 times just until all the ingredients combine (do not over pulse).
In a large frying pan, heat oil over medium low heat. Check texture of turkey mix by forming/rolling 1 tablespoon of turkey into bite size round balls. If mix is too soft and difficult to hold shape, add 1/4-1/2 cup more bread crumbs to bind mix. Once oil is hot, shape 1 tablespoon of turkey at a time and fry until firm; frequently turning to cook and brown. Remove from heat cooked meatballs and transfer to another large frying pan. Thirty minutes prior to serving, add raspberry sauce and gently combine and simmer using low heat for 15-20 minutes.
If serving at a later date, store fried meatballs in a tightly sealed container in the fridge for up to two days. When ready to serve, heat a large frying pan over medium low heat; add sauce and then meatballs. Warm and cook for 30 minutes and serve!
Garnish with rosemary sprigs and fresh cranberries!
