Big sauce night

Awhile back John and unofficially made sunday "big sauce night" basically we'd have some kind of pasta with red sauce. We got out of the habit for awhile but we brought it back last night with a bang!! It was a beautiful day here, the perfect kind for raking leaves. Crisp blue skies, a slight chill in the air, beautiful. Last night the menu was thin spaghetti with turkey meatballs. I've taken a recipe that was originally from my Aunt and switched it up a bit, I LOVE these meatballs, perfectly garlicky and tender, what more could you ask for??


Turkey Meatballs (adapted from Aunt Carols recipe)
1 lb. ground 99% fat free turkey (Aunt Carol uses... beef or a combination of beef, veal and pork)
1/2 cup grated cheese (Parmesan, Romano or a combination of these) (I used part skim)
1/2 cup panko (Aunt Carol uses Italian flavored breadcrumbs)
1 egg
1 medium onion, chopped or diced fine
3 or 4 good size garlic cloves,put through a garlic press or diced very fine
1 rounded tablespoon (about) finely minced parsley
Salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to taste
(Taste the mixture before adding salt. The cheese and breadcrumbs contain salt)
1/2 cup chopped fresh mushrooms (I added these to keep the moisture level up since we got rid of a lot of the fat by using the lean turkey)

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. If mixture is a little dry, add some water, a little at a time, until proper consistency is reached. Roll into meatballs, fry lightly on each side in a small amount of olive oil (I used olive oil in a mister spray bottle). When almost all the way cooked through, add spaghetti sauce and cover to steam cook them until done.

Note from Aunt Carol: You can double, triple, etc. this recipe. Also, I find that the beef, veal and pork combination make a softer meatball. Hope you like them!