Creamy Jumbo Shells and Homemade Turkey Meatballs

Sorry fellow Nom-mers, no post from last week because I was out of town. But I’m back! And this week I wanted to veer away from the desserts. So I started by aiming to create a delicious pink sauce, but forgot to add the tomato sauce, and along the way made the best meatballs I’ve ever made. Then what I ended with was a delicious, creamy, cheesey plate of goodness.

Not in the mood for pasta? The meatballs make for great sliders as well! 

1. Mix ¼ cup milk with panko in a small bowl and set aside.

2. Heat up a pan to medium high heat, chop up half of the onion and cook for 5 minutes until onions are translucent. Chop up 2 garlic cloves and cook for a minute. Remove pan from the heat and let onion mixture cool.

3. Add turkey, egg, salt, pepper, onion mixture and panko mixture together in a mixer or with your hands. Ground turkey is a very soft meat, if you’re using a mixer, don’t mix for too long or things will get too mushy.

4. Heat the pan back to medium-high heat; using an ice cream scoop, scoop out small balls and place them directly into the pan. If you don’t have an ice cream scoop, you can roll the balls with your hands, just know it’ll be sticky! Make sure each ball is fully cooked. Be careful as turkey meatballs can be loose.

5. Remove meatballs and place them on the side, add remaining onion; cook 5 minutes or until translucent. Stir in remaining garlic cloves, dried crushed red pepper, and oregano; cook for one minute. Add butter to pan, cooking just until melted; whisk in flour. Don’t worry, it will get dry and cluster. Slowly add remaining milk to the pan, whisking constantly until mixture is smooth; add cheeses, stirring until melted. You can always add more milk to thin your sauce out to preference. 

6. Boil a pot of water, add a teaspoon of salt, and cook jumbo noodles for 8 minutes. In a medium sized bowl, lightly toss sauce, pasta and meatballs. Serve. Nom!