Spaghetti and Turkey Florentine Meatballs

I know some of you may be thinking that turkey meatballs is just plain wrong, but let me tell you that there was nothing wrong about my turkey florentine meatballs. When I thought of this recipe, it was not to replace ground beef meatballs, but to make up a different kind of meatball. And I do believe that the ground beef meatball has met its match! :) If you have an aversion to ground poultry, I hope you can look past the ground turkey and give this a try because I think that you will really enjoy these meatballs. Here's what I did...

-1/2 lb of ground turkey (I suggest getting the 93/7 because you need a little fat in the meatball or it will come out dry. This amount made 6 meatballs which were a little bigger than a golf ball.)
-a small handful of spinach, thinly sliced
-4 to 6 large basil leaves, thinly sliced
-a small handful of flat leaf (Italian) parsley, finely chopped
-1/2 of a small onion (or 1 large shallot), diced and sauteed until softened
-1/3 cup of shredded parmesan
-about 1/2 cup of plain breadcrumbs (just eyeball it, add a little less to begin with, you can always add more later if it's not holding together)
-1 egg
-salt and pepper as desired
-bocconcini (AKA small mozzarella balls. If you can't find these you can always get the large ball of mozzarella and cut it into bite sizes pieces.)
-pasta of your choice
-red sauce of your choice

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, combine the spinach, basil, parsley, sauteed onion, parmesan, breadcrumbs, egg, and salt and pepper to taste. Add salt and pepper to the ground turkey separately to ensure that the meat is properly seasoned. Combine the ground turkey with the spinach mixture until all the ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the ground turkey. Be careful not to overmix or the meat will get tough. Take a small amount of the mixture (a little larger than a ping pong ball) and form into a patty. Place a bocconcini into the middle of the patty and with another small amount of the ground turkey mixture, begin forming the meat around the ball of mozzarella. Be sure to seal the edges where the meat comes together (just pinch them together) to make sure that the mozzarella doesn't seep out while cooking. (At this point, place the water on to boil for the pasta.) Once you have made all of the meatballs, heat a tablespoon of olive oil (just eyeball it) in a saute pan over medium heat. Place the meatballs in the pan and brown on each side for 1-2 minutes. (At this stage, we're not looking to cook the meatballs, we just want a good caramelization on them.) Once the meatballs are browned, transfer to a cookie sheet and place them in the oven. Cook the meatballs for about 12-14 minutes. Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook for about 10 minutes for al dente pasta. Warm up the red sauce in a sauce pot. To serve, mix the pasta and sauce together, then pile it up high on the plate. Nestle in 2 meatballs, add some sauce on top of the meatballs and sprinkle the entire heap with some parmesan cheese.

These meatballs are moist and full of flavor! When you cut into one and reach that center of cheesy goodness, it's like a party in your mouth! I really hope that you try this and please tell me what you think of them! Enjoy!