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Epicurious

Turkey Meatballs With Romesco Sauce

4.8

(9)

A plate of turkey meatballs on a bed of bright red romesco sauce.
Photograph by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by D'Myrtrek Brown

These are true weeknight meatballs: You pan-sear them in a skillet to develop a golden-brown crust, then pop them in the oven to finish cooking for the final few minutes. Once they’re in the oven, blitz together a quick romesco sauce made from toasted almonds and roasted red peppers for dinner in half an hour. The versatile, nutty sauce adds rich flavor to other lean proteins like fish or pan-roasted chicken breasts and also makes a great dip for raw veg. (For a gluten-free dish, simply leave out the panko.)

Recipe information

  • Yield

    4 servings

Ingredients

1 lb. ground turkey
1 large egg, beaten to blend
⅓ cup panko
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. paprika
¼ cup finely chopped parsley, plus more coarsely chopped for serving
¾ tsp. kosher salt, plus more
2 Tbsp. plus ½ cup olive oil
½ cup toasted almonds
1 16-oz. jar fire-roasted peppers in water, drained
2 small garlic cloves, crushed
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
½ lemon

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat oven to 425°. Using your hands, mix ground turkey, egg, panko, cumin, onion powder, paprika, ¼ cup parsley, and ¾ tsp. salt in a large bowl. Working one at a time, scoop out small amounts of mixture and roll into 1½"-diameter balls (you should have 18–20 meatballs).

    Step 2

    Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium. Wo rking in batches, cook meatballs until golden brown all over, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer skillet with meatballs to oven and bake until cooked through, 5–7 minutes.

    Step 3

    While the meatballs are baking, pulse almonds in a food processor until coarsely ground. Transfer to a medium bowl. Pulse fire-roasted peppers, garlic, vinegar, and cayenne in food processor until almost smooth. Transfer to bowl with almonds and stir in remaining ½ cup oil; season romesco sauce with salt.

    Step 4

    Spoon romesco sauce into shallow bowls and arrange meatballs on top. Finely grate lemon zest over and scatter coarsely chopped parsley on top.

TagsMeatballBell PepperVegetableAlmondNutGround TurkeyTurkeyPoultryQuickEasyWeeknight MealsMainGluten FreeHealthyishDinnerBon Appétit

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