Turkey Meatball Bake

This is a lovely family recipe for all the family getting stuck into one central dish. It's also a recipe that lends itself well to 'cooking with children' which is an absolute passion here, and my Bridget who's 3 and a half, loves nothing better than putting her apron on and helping in the kitchen.

I served here with a Mediterranean loaf (Tesco bakery, thank you very much), but any fresh bread would work, as would fresh pasta or even rice or couscous. There's just something more fun about dipping in the bread and mopping up all of the sauce.

I use turkey as it's incredibly lean, but you could any minced meat here, and the herbs I've included were as I had them in stock, again you can experiment or use dried if you prefer. It really is worth making your own meatballs, you don't need to pad them out with breadcrumbs or egg or anything, they're just pure meat and seasonings - no nasties.

The below serves us four (two adults, and two under 3's).

Turkey Meatball Bake

Here's how:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 celery sticks
• 1 carrot
• 1 jar passata
• 1 tin cannellini beans
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 glass red wine
• 3 bayleafs
• Handful basil leafs

For the meatballs:

• 450g turkey mince
• 3 spring onions
• Drizzle of garlic oil
• Handful each of: parsley, tarragon, chives

For the bake:

• 1 ball of half fat mozzarella

Firstly make the tomato sauce. Start by pouring in the olive oil to a saucepan and placing on a low heat.

Peel and dice the onion and crush the garlic and add to the pan. Finely slice the celery sticks and add to the pan.

Once they're all softened, add the passata, red wine, bayleafs and oregano as well as seasoning generously with sea salt and black pepper.

Grate the carrot and add to the sauce, and finally add the cannellini beans then give a good stir through and allow to cook for 20-30 minutes. Remove from the heat and throw a few basil leaves in, give a good stir then set aside.

The tomato sauce with beans

In the meantime, make the meatballs. Place the mince into a bowl.

Finely slice the spring onions, and chop the herbs and add to the bowl with the garlic oil and give a good mix. There's only hands to be used here, a spoon won't cut it. Mix really well, trying to get the herbs distributed well throughout the meat, but be careful not to overwork the meat.

Now pull off a small piece, about 1 tbsp of the meat, and roll around in your hands to make a meatball then set aside. Repeat until all of the meat has been transformed into rounds.

Turkey Meatballs

Now remove the bayleafs from the tomato sauce and pour into an oven-proof dish. Place each meatball into the sauce, with a little space in between.

Finally tear the mozzarella up into slithers and place all around the top of the dish, so to evenly distribute the cheese.

Give one final seasoning over the top of the dish and it's ready to go into the oven.

Cook in a pre-heated oven for 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through, and the cheese is melted and gooey all over the top. Serve with your choice of accompaniments. Enjoy!

Here are some other makeover recipes I make using turkey mince:
Turkey and Hidden Vegetable Bolognese
Turkey and Vegetable Parsnip Topped Pie
Turkey and Charred Vegetable Ragu Pasta Bake