This brings an Italian flavour to a veryEnglish tradition. Get your butcher to debone, skin and mince 2 turkey drumsticks. Alternatively, use chicken mince.
TO DRINK: Lomond Merlot 2005, ideal companion for any tomato-based dish.
Turkey meatballs withslow-roasted tomato sauce and tagliatelle
Ingredients
- MEATBALLS
- 600g turkey mince
- 5ml (1 tsp) fresh sage, chopped
- 5ml (1 tsp) fresh oregano, chopped
- 5ml (1 tsp) flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1 large egg
- 5ml (1 tsp) lemon zest
- 70g breadcrumbs
- 15ml (1 tbsp) water
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 100g butter
- 50ml sunflower oil
- 10 Roma tomatoes, quartered
- olive oil, for drizzling
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- juice of ½ a lemon
- 250ml (1 cup) tomato purée
- 10ml (2 tsp) chicken stock powder
- 15ml (1 tbsp) sugar
- 500g tagliatelle, cooked al dente
- Parmesan, freshly grated, to serve
Instructions
To make the meatballs, combine the mince, herbs, egg, zest, breadcrumbs and water. Season and mix well until firm. Roll into small meatballs and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
Heat the butter and sunflower oil in a large frying pan to very hot and fry the meatballs until brown, about 2 minutes. They don’t need to be cooked through. Drain on paper towel.
Preheat the oven to 150ºC. Place the tomatoes on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and season. Roast until soft, about 1 hour. Remove from the heat and allow to cool, then pulse in a food processor until slightly chunky.
Combine the tomatoes, lemon juice, tomato purée, stock powder, sugar and meatballs in a large saucepan and slow-cook on very low heat for 1 hour.
Serve with the pasta and Parmesan.
