Turkey Pesto Meatballs

Photo Courtesy Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen - Recipe is NOT!

In my quest for the new and different and non-boring dinner... in the quest to make my meals a bit trimmer and healthier and in my quest to have a warm, comfort meal while I decided that I would try to make a pesto turkey meatball. (I almost always use non-fat or low fat items as a substitute for their full-fat counterparts and never feel as though I have sacrificed taste, quality or consistency.)

Yes, I know this has been done. I did not go to any recipe. I winged it and made it mine. My goal was flavor, texture and healthy. These will be on our dinner table again, for sure! Truthfully. They were amazing!

What made them even better was that I turned them into meatball subs!


Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey (though you could use ground chicken)
1 egg
1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 water
1 cup pesto
1/4 - 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper -- a couple of dashes!

Preheat oven to 350

You can either make your own pesto (I have several recipes here on the blog) or use a good quality store bought pesto.

In a large mixing bowl mix all ingredients together until it is all well blended.
Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil
Roll into about 1 1/2 inch sized balls
Place on baking sheet
Bake in oven for 15 minutes, then with some tongs flip the meatballs over and cook for 15 more minutes. Repeat one more time, flip and cook for 10 minutes so that they get a nice golden brown.
When done remove from oven and set on paper towel to drain.

To make the meatball subs.
Take a nice roll like a ciabatta (I look carefully at the labels. Some have about 150 calories while others have 250. I stick to the lower versions!)
Slice the bread in half and place under the broiler so that it toasts to a nice golden brown.
Add mozzarella (low fat, part skim) if desired to the tops of the rolls, place back under broiler to melt. Watch closely so they do not burn!
Add Pesto Mayo to the other half.
Cut meatballs in half and arrange onto the rolls.
Place tops on and mangia!


Pesto Mayonnaise

I add equal amounts of pest to mayo (Hellman's Light) and mix well.
I use pesto mayo on all sorts of sandwiches from turkey to chicken salad. It's a great way to kick up a sandwich!