CLEMENTINE GLAZED TURKEY MEATBALLS AND LINGUINI

CHECK OUT THE BALLS ON THIS ONE, they’re coated in a clementine glaze

I’ve really enjoyed making pan-seared chicken dishes lately. There’s something about having a full dinner sitting in one frying pan when you’re finished cooking that aside from bringing all of the flavors together feels really rewarding—it’s just so pretty! Well, in that vein, I decided to try a new approach to spaghetti and meatballs. Inspired by a bag of clementines sitting on my counter gifted to me by my awesome neighbor (THANK YOU, AMBER!) I decided to make a glaze to give my turkey meatballs some dimension—they are such a must!

Ooh, in case you were wondering, these are the pan-seared chicken dishes I was talking about.

1. Pear Sage And Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken And Orzo

2. Matzah Crusted Mushroom Stuffed Chicken (Passover friendly but I would honestly make any day of the week)

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CLEMENTINE GLAZED TURKEY MEATBALLS AND LINGUINI

Yield: 2-4 Servings

Author: Michelle Williams

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 55 Min

Ingredients

FOR THE GLAZE

• Water (1 cup)
• Clementines (7, peeled, broken into segements, and then those segements should be cut in half. Save the peels from 4)
• Fresh Thyme (1 tablespoon of leaves. if you're building your shopping list you will need 2 more tablespoons throughout the recipe)
• Honey (2 tablespoon)
• Unsalted Butter (2 tablespoons)

FOR THE TURKEY MEATBALLS

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (1 tablespoon)
• Vidalia Onion (1/2, diced)
• Garlic (3 cloves, finely chopped)
• 93% Lean Ground Turkey (1 pound)
• Panko (1 cup)
• Egg (1, beaten)
• Fresh Thyme (1 tablespoon)
• Salt (1/2 tablespoon)
• Pepper (1/2 tablespoon)
• Vegetable Oil (roughly 4 tablespoons for coating your frying pan)

FOR EVERYTHING ELSE

• Linguini (10 ounces)
• Fresh Thyme (1 tablespoon)
• Parmesan (this is for topping, if you want to get it pre-grated, go for it)
• Salt

KITCHEN ITEMS

• Cutting Board
• Chefs Knife
• Large Mixing Bowl
• Medium Mixing Bowl
• 6 Quart Stock Pot
• Colander
• Strainer
• 12 Inch Oven Safe Frying Pan
• Rubber Spatula
• Cooking Tongs
• Meat Thermometer
• Potato Masher
• Wooden Spoon

Instructions

TO MAKE YOUR LINGUINI

1. Fill your stock pot with water, liberally add salt, and over high heat bring it to a boil. Feel free to move on to the next steps while you wait for the water to boil.
2. Add your linguini and cook it to its package’s instructions for al dente (mine took 10 minutes).
3. Use your colander to strain your pasta. Set aside.

TO MAKE YOUR MEATBALLS

1. Preheat your oven to 350º.
2. Over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in your frying pan.
3. Add your onions. Use your spatula to move them around regularly until they begin to yellow—about 5 minutes.
4. Add your garlic and continue to mix and cook until it begins to get some color—roughly 2 minutes.
5. Transfer your onion and garlic mixture to your medium mixing bowl and let it cool to room temperature.
6. Use a paper towel to wipe out any lingering crumbs from your pan cause we’re going to use it again. Be careful not to burn yourself.
7. Put your ground turkey in your large mixing bowl.
8. Sprinkle your salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon of thyme over your turkey.
9. Add your onion and garlic mixture, panko, and egg to your turkey.
10. Use your rubber spatula or hands to mix it all together until all of your ingredients are evenly dispersed throughout the turkey.
11. Use your hands to roll your turkey mixture into roughly inch-and-a-half sized balls (I rolled 13).
12. Over high heat, liberally coat the bottom of your frying pan with vegetable oil.
13. Once hot, one by one, carefully place each meatball into the oil. Two things. 1. you’ll know your oil is hot enough if the ball sizzles when it touches the oil. 2. when the balls touch the oil, they tend to sizzle aggressively and sometimes the oil pops so make sure to be extra cautious. If you feel the need to lower the heat at points, do it.
14. We are searing the balls here. So once all of the balls are in the pan, check the ones you put in first first to see if they have blackened a bit. Once you see a little blackening, use your tongs to rotate them onto an uncooked side—about 2 minutes on each side. Repeat this process on each raw section (I rotated about 5 times).
15. Place your oven safe frying pan filled with balls directly into the oven.
16. Bake until your chicken reaches an internal temperature of 155º—about 10 minutes. Use your meat thermometer to check the middle of your meatball. Poultry is technically fully cooked at 165º but it continues to cook when you take it out of the oven. Taking it out at 155º will keep your turkey balls from getting dried out. If you take it out at 165º they will continue to raise in temperature and toughen.
17. Feel free to move onto the glaze while your turkey balls are in the oven.

TO MAKE YOUR CLEMENTINE GLAZE

1. Reusing your stock pot here.
2. Pour 1 cup of water into your stock pot.
3. Add all of your clementine pieces and 4 rinds.
4. Add your thyme and honey.
5. Use your wooden spoon to mix it all together.
6. Over a moderate heat, bring it all to a boil.
7. Use your potato masher to mash your clementines. We’re looking to get some more of their juice out. That said, don’t go over board here. Mashing for about 30 seconds should do it.
8. Let it boil for 15 minutes.
9. Turn off your heat.
10. Use your tongs to transfer your clementines to a strainer over a bowl. Discard the rinds. Use your wooden spoon to press down on the clementines in the strainer to get any extra juice. Add what you get back to the liquid in the stock pot.
11. Add in your butter and mix it until it is fully melted.

TO PUT IT ALL TOGETHER

1. Use your tongs to transfer your meatballs into your glaze. Roll them around until they are fully coated.
2. Transfer your linguini to your frying pan. If it has started to stick together, run a little hot water over it in the strainer and use your fingers to pull through it.
3. Pour any extra glaze (that your turkey meatballs are still sitting in) over your linguini.
4. Add the mashed clementines you have set aside to your linguini.
5. Season you linguini with salt and pepper. Use your tongs to mix it all together in the frying pan.
6. Place your turkey meatballs onto your linguini.
7. Sprinkle your remaining tablespoon of thyme and shave parmesan to your liking over linguini and turkey meatballs.
8. Serve hot.

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