Mushroom & Swiss Turkey Meatballs

 Mushroom & Swiss Turkey Meatballs are flavorful, tender, and super versatile. Serve with rice, in pasta with alfredo sauce, or with roasted veggies. Feel free to change up the cheese or vegetables in the recipe, just be sure to sweat them first, as to much moisture will keep the meatballs from holding together well. These meatballs are great for meal prepping and can be frozen raw or cooked for later use.

Yield: 36 Meatballs

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Assembly Time: 10 minutes

Bake Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 20 ounces ground turkey (I used 85% lean for this recipe)*
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 1 bell pepper (I used an orange pepper), finely diced
• 6-8 ounces of mushrooms, finely diced
• 5 Cloves of Garlic
• 2 cups of 1/2 inch cubed day-old bread
• 1/3 cups milk
• 1 large egg
• 3 ounces (block) Swiss Cheese, diced into 1-2 cm cubes
• 1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. Dried Parsley
• 1/2 tbsp fat of choice (I used bacon fat)
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1 tsp. Pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Prepare Vegetables: dice onions, bell pepper, garlic, and mushrooms.
3. In a skillet over medium heat with fat of choice, sauté onions, bell pepper, and garlic until onion is translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
4. While the vegetables are cooking, tear the bread into small cubes. Mix with the milk and set aside. Dice cheese and set aside.
5. Add mushrooms to skillet w/ onions, bell pepper, and garlic. Sauté until they release their juices and the juices have cooked off, 5-7 minutes. 
6. Set vegetables off heat to cool for 5 minutes.
7. Prepare a large cookie sheet with a silpat or parchment.
8. In a bowl, combine turkey, egg, bread/milk mixture, spices, salt, pepper, and cooked vegetables. Mix gently with your hands until combined.
9. Use a kitchen tablespoon to scoop a ping-pong ball sized amount of meat mixture into your hand. Flatten slightly, put 1 cube of cheese in center, pinch mixture to cover cheese and use fingers to create a ball shape. Place on prepared cookie sheet.
• Note - my mixture was very moist, but held it's shape. See note below if your mixture will not hold it's shape.
10. Bake for 17-23 minutes, depending on how big your meatballs are. Use a meat thermometer to check that center temp is 165 degrees or higher.

Notes

• *If using extra lean ground turkey, I suggest adding 1 tbsp bacon fat or butter to your meat mixture to keep meatballs from drying out.
• If you have extra cubes of cheese, add them to the top of the meatballs before baking.
• If your meat mixture is to wet to hold together, add dry breadcrumbs, or torn bread until mixture holds together. It is supposed to be wet and tacky.
• My meat mixture yeilded 36 meatballs of about ping-pong ball size. The exact quantites of vegetables and bread you use will alter your yield slightly.