Herb Turkey Meatballs with Buttery Sage Apples

Yield: 16 meatballs

I received a bunch of apples and herbs, including a decent amount of fresh sage, from Homegrown by Rachel, an urban gardener here in Ypsilanti, MI. These ingredients were the inspiration for this dish, along with the cooler weather and the anticipation of Thanksgiving soon to be here.

Meatball Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground turkey, lean.

• Half of a large yellow onion, diced.

• 2 large garlic cloves, minced.

• 7 fresh sage leaves which equals about 1 Tbsp chopped.

• 2 tsp fresh marjoram chopped.

• 5 fresh basil leaves or 1 tsp chopped.

• 1 tsp bacon fat, you can substitute a cooking oil if you don’t have bacon fat, I just really liked the little bit of smokey bacon flavor it gives the meatballs.

• 2 Tbsp avocado oil or other high heat oil.

• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs, I used spelt ancient grain bread to make these.

• 1 large egg.

• 1 tsp salt.

• 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper.

Buttery Sage Apple Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp salted butter.

• 1 large apple peeled and chopped.

• 4 sage leaves.

Method:

• Using a cast iron pan or dutch oven, heat 1 Tbsp of oil on medium heat.

• Cook diced yellow onion for about 5 minutes.

• Add in the minced garlic and half of the salt, 1/2 tsp, cooking for another 3 minutes.

• Place the cooked onion and garlic into a large mixing bowl and let cool.

• To make breadcrumbs, toast your 1 slice of bread, or let it dry out on the counter for a couple days, and grind it using a spice grinder or food processor.

• Add the ground turkey, breadcrumps, egg, chopped sage, chopped basil, chopped marjoram, remaining salt and pepper to the large mixing bowl.

• Gently mix everything together.

• Preheat oven to 350°F.

• Heat the bacon fat and remaining 1 Tbsp of oil in your cast iron pan or dutch oven on medium high heat.

• Using a 4oz portion scoop, scoop the meat balls into your hand and gently squeeze and roll in your hands to create a round meatball.

• Place in the hot pan and continue to scoop and roll meatballs and place them in the hot pan.

• As you work on this, make sure to rotate your first meatballs in the pan after about a minute or two. You want them golden brown on all sides,

• Once meatballs are browned on all sides cover your pan with aluminum foil, or an oven safe lid, and place in oven for about 10 minutes until they reach 165°F on an internal thermometer.

• Remove Meatballs from pan and cover them again to keep warm.

• Carefully wipe out the pan using a paper towel or kitchen towel to remove most of the food bits. Some can be left in the pan, it just adds flavor!

• Heat the 3 Tbsp of butter on medium low heat.

• Add in the chopped apples and sage.

• Cook for about 10 minutes or until the apples soften and get slightly golden brown.

• Place meatballs back in the pan and roll them around in the sage apple butter.

Enjoy!

Featured in the picture above: Herb turkey meatballs with buttery sage apples served with cranberry sage dressing and delicata squash.