Turkey Meatballs In Tomato Sauce Nigella Lawson Recipes

SPICED AND SUPER-JUICY ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• For the turkey:
• Place the water into your largest cooking pot or bucket/plastic bin and add all the turkey ingredients, stirring to dissolve the salt, sugar, syrup and honey. (Squeeze the juice of the orange quarters into the brine before you chuck in the pieces.) Untie and remove any string or trussing attached to the turkey, shake it free and add it to the liquid. Add more water if the turkey is not completely submerged. Keep the mixture in a cold place, even outside overnight or for up 1 or 2 days before you cook it, remembering to take it out of its liquid (and wiping it dry with kitchen-towel) a good 40 or 50 minutes before it has to go into the oven. Turkeys - indeed this is the case for all meat - should be at room temperature before being put in the preheated oven. If you're at all concerned - the cold water in the brine will really chill this bird - then just cook the turkey for longer than its actual weight requires.
• For the basting glaze:
• Place the butter and syrup into a saucepan and cook over a low heat, while stirring, until the ingredients have melted and combined. Brush the turkey with the glaze before roasting, and baste periodically throughout the roasting time. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Cook the turkey for 30 minutes at this relatively high temperature, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees F and continue cooking, turning the oven back up to 425 degrees F for the final15 minutes or so if you want to give a browning boost to the skin. For a 9 to 11-pound turkey, allow 2 1/2 to 3-hours in total. But remember that ovens vary enormously, so just check by piercing the flesh between leg and body with a small sharp knife: when the juices run clear, the turkey is cooked. Just as it's crucial to let the turkey come to room temperature before it goes in to the oven, so it's important to let it stand out of the oven for a good 20 minutes before you actually carve it.

TURKEY MEATBALLS IN TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Put the peeled onion and celery into a processor and blitz to a mush. Or you can chop as finely as humanly possible by hand. Reserve 2 tablespoons for the meatball mixture.
• Warm the garlic flavoured oil in a heavy saucepan or Dutch oven, add the onion and celery mixture, along with the thyme, and cook at moderate to low heat, stirring every now and again, for about 10 minutes.
• Add the cans of tomato, filling up each empty can with water to add to the pan. Season with the sugar, salt and pepper, stir and then leave to come to a bubble, and then turn down to let it simmer gently while you get on with the meatballs.
• Put all the ingredients for the meatballs, including the reserved chopped onion and celery, and salt according to preference, into a large bowl and mix together, gently, with your hands, wearing disposable vinyl gloves if you feel so inclined. Don't over-mix, as that will make the meatballs dense-textured and heavy.
• When all the meatball ingredients are not too officiously amalgamated, start rolling. The easiest way really to do this is to pinch out an amount about the size of a generously heaped teaspoon and roll into a bowl between the palms of your hands. Put the meatballs on a baking tray, lined with baking parchment or greaseproof paper, as you go. You should get about 50 little meatballs.
• Drop these gently into the simmering sauce; I try and let these fall in concentric circles working around the pan from the outside edge inwards, in only the vaguest of fashions.
• Let the meatballs cook for 30 minutes, until cooked through. Serve with rice or pasta or however you so please.

TURKEY MEATBALLS IN TOMATO SAUCE - NIGELLA LAWSON

Steps:

• Puree onion and celery to mush in food processor. Remove 2 tbsp of puree and set aside in a small bowl for the meatballs.
• Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. (If you don't have garlic oil, saute 1 thinly sliced garlic clove in 2 tbsp oil until golden brown and very fragrant, about 3 minutes; remove and discard garlic before proceeding.) Reduce to medium-low, add vegetable puree and thyme, and cook, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
• Add tomatoes, water, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer and let cook while prepping the meatballs.
• Add all meatball ingredients to reserved vegetable puree. Mix gently to combine; avoid over-mixing to prevent the meatballs from being leaden and heavy.
• Form mixture into approximately 50 meatballs (each should be about one heaping teaspoon). Once all the meatballs are formed, add them to the simmering sauce. Continue to simmer 30 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through.

TURKEY MEATBALLS IN TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine cheese, bread crumbs, onion, chives, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and red pepper flakes, if using, and mix well. Add turkey and egg and blend with your hands until well mixed. If you've got time, cover mixture and chill for an hour or up to 24 hours. These are easiest to form into balls while very cold. Form into 28 meatballs, each about 1 1/4-inches in diameter.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large sauté pan. When hot, add enough of the meatballs to fit in one layer without crowding, and brown on all sides, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate, add another tablespoon of oil to pan and brown another layer of meatballs, transferring them to the plate as they brown. Repeat until all meatballs are browned, adding more oil to the pan as needed.
• When meatballs are all browned, add marinara sauce to pan and bring to a simmer, scraping up the browned bits on the pan bottom. Return meatballs and their juices to pan, shake pan to cover the meatballs with sauce, and lower heat. Partly cover pan and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Serve hot, drizzled with more olive oil and sprinkled with more cheese, if you like.