Spinach and Feta Meatballs

These delicious little turkey meatballs are one of my favorite recipes.  They are a great main dish when served with rice, cous cous, or orzo, and have been a perennial cocktail party favorite plated up in a large bowl.  I use ground turkey in this recipe and in almost every ground meat application in my kitchen, but you can feel free to use beef, a beef/pork combination, or even ground lamb for a particularly Greek inspired meal!

Start by finely dicing a small onion and letting it sauté in olive oil over medium heat.  While the onion cooks roughly chop 4-5 cups of baby spinach and add to the pan with the onions.  Add two cloves of crushed garlic, season with salt and pepper and allow the spinach to wilt and the onions to become translucent.  You may substitute a box frozen chopped spinach for the fresh spinach, but I've made it with both and really prefer the fresh spinach for its texture and flavor.

Set the spinach and onion mixture aside in a bowl and allow to cool before mixing with the raw meat.  This will take a few minutes, so feel fee to pour a glass of wine or having a little cooking break with some cheese and crackers...just me? Okay.  Speaking of cheese, I use a great Mediterranean seasoned feta from Trader Joe's, but if you can't find it plain feta will be more than sufficient.

Once your spinach and onion mixture is sufficiently room temperature combine with ground turkey, egg, feta cheese, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.  If your mixture is very loose, which turkey sometimes can be, add some breadcrumbs to the mixture.  I've found these meatballs are much more tender without breadcrumbs so try to avoid it if you can.  So if you're impatient like me, use a spring loaded ice cream scoop to portion your meatballs and transfer them directly to the pan.  If you don't have a scoop, or have a virtuous level of patience, you can roll your meatballs by hand.  I prefer a slightly smaller meatball for this recipe because they cook more quickly and help the turkey from getting too dry.

Pan fry the meatballs in batches in a non-stick pan.  I've discovered that the non-stick pan is a meatball making essential so the cooked, caramelized part doesn't break away from the uncooked part as you flip the meatballs.  Don't worry about them becoming less spherical as you cook them.  All of my meatballs turn out kind of pyramid shaped and they remain lovely and delicious.

Spinach and Feta Meatballs

Adapted from Itsy Bitsy Foodies

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 4-5 cups baby spinach
• 3-4 oz. Mediterranean seasoned feta
• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 egg
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Breadcrumbs, if needed

Instructions

1. Finely dice onions and sauté with roughly chopped spinach and crushed garlic
2. Let spinach mixture cool to room temperature before adding to meat
3. Mix spinach mixture with meat and all remaining ingredients, save the breadcrumbs, until they are thoroughly combined, breaking up larger pieces of feta with your hands.
4. If the mixture is too loose to roll add breadcrumbs until you find the desired consistency
5. Use a spring loaded ice cream scoop or hand roll meatballs before cooking through in a non-stick pan