Ricotta pistachio turkey meatballs
Goodbye, dry turkey meatballs. I ensure lots of juiciness and flavour by using ricotta inside the meatball filling, plus tons of seasonings — most importantly, a beef stock cube!
Pistachios, dill, sumac — just to name a few important key players.
Enjoy with pasta, rice or a weekly favorite, an olive, goats cheese, grapefruit and truffle oil mixed greens salad. I would suggest pairing this dish alongside my recipe for whipped butter beans with fried sage or burrata with shaved brussels slaw and truffle oil. My all-time favorite way to have meatballs is with tzatziki on the side and my recipe for brown butter tzatziki is the best with these pistachio meatballs!
Check out my ‘Chicken Parmesan Meatballs with Brown Truffle Butter’ for a similar recipe.
Ingredients:
Charred spring onions:
5 stalks spring onion, roots sliced off, white part kept on
1 tbsp olive oil
The seasonings:
1 beef stock cube
1 tsp sumac
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp fine cooking salt
cracked black pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp chilli powder
The meatball fillings:
1/2 cup panko + 4 tbsp
1 egg
4 tbsp ricotta
1/2 cup parmesan, freshly grated
80g pistachio, rough chop
10g dill, finely chopped - stems included unless they’re super ‘stalky’
1 shallot, grated on a microplane
3 cloves garlic, grated on a microplane
400g turkey mince
Olive oil, to fry - approximately 1/4 cup
Method:
To char the spring onions: heat a large frying pan over high heat with 1 tbsp olive oil and wait until very hot. Drop in the spring onions, whole, and allow to char on all sides by only flipping them a couple of times. Once they are darkened and wilted, turn off the heat and allow them to cool on a cutting board. Once cooled, chop into very small pieces.
Seasonings: Combine all of the ingredients for the seasonings in a small bowl. Break apart the stock cube and mash it with a fork until it is crumbly and powdery.
To make the filling: combine panko crumbs, one egg, ricotta, parmesan and the seasonings in a medium mixing bowl and mix to combine until the seasonings are throughly mixed through and evenly distributed. Add dill, pistachio, grated garlic, grated shallot and chopped spring onions and mix to evenly distribute again. Add turkey mince and mix in with your hands, just enough to mix the turkey in evenly throughout. Careful not to over-mix. Over mixing at this step can lead to tough balls! Let sit for 15 minutes to hydrate.
To form the meatballs: roll a palm-sized amount of meatball filling in between two hands until a round ball forms. Place them on a large plate or baking tray, apart from one another, until all of the filling is used.
To fry the meatballs: heat a large frying pan over low heat, this is important to ensure the meatball cooks throughout and doesn’t just burn and cook the outsides. Add enough oil to cover the bottom of the frying pan, approximately 1/4 cup. Add the meatballs in, one at a time, spacing them apart from one another so they aren’t stuck next to each other. Fry for approximately 4-5 minutes, or until deep golden then flip and fry for another 4-5 minutes, or again, until deep golden. Repeat this with the sides too, flipping twice to fry two sides of the meatball. Once dark golden on all sides, place on a paper-towel lined plate to absorb excess oil and cool.
Serve with mixed greens, cucumber, grapefruit segments, goats cheese and green olives. A dressing from lime juice, dijon mustard and truffle oil plus salt and pepper is really lovely, too!
