Herbed Turkey Meatballs With Garlic Dipping Sauce

It’s a been a pretty busy week…with nothing in particular making it so. I probably waste more time than I should on Pinterest and just dinking around on the internet instead of working on Recipes and my site…but that’s the beauty of working for yourself. Anyway, after much time staring in my fridge I decided on meatballs and a dipping sauce….and since I’m addicted to garlic, it had to be a garlic dipping sauce.

Having lived in the Middle East for part of my childhood, I couldn’t help but remember the Lebanese garlic sauce they serve with rotisserie chicken and pita bread….mmmm. I thought it would make nice accompaniment for the herbed meatballs I’d been planning to make. So, after some googling around I found the perfect recipe at Thefoodblog.com.au and I tried it…. ah it was exactly the way I remembered it…light, creamy, tangy and garlicky. I could drink this stuff. After the meatballs were gone, I ended up making some french fries just to keep eating the garlic sauce…and boy were they good!

Here’s my Herbed Turkey Meatball recipe along with the garlic sauce adapted from here. Enjoy!

Herbed Turkey Meatballs With Garlic Dipping Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:
For the meatballs-
1 lb ground turkey
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh Thyme
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh Rosemary
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh Sage
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp Onion salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp crushed red pepper
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 slice of bread (soaked in water & squeezed)
1 egg
1 tsp ground cumin

Garlic Dipping Sauce-
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp Salt
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 egg white
3/4 cup oil (sunflower/canola)
1-2 tbsp ice cold water
Chives for garnish

Method:
– Start with a pound of ground turkey and preheat your oven to 375F.
– Add to the turkey the thyme, rosemary, sage, oregano, onion salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper, finely chopped garlic and cumin.
– Then take a slice of bread soak it in a water and then squeeze it. Add the bread to the turkey and mix all the ingredients well.
– Add one egg to the turkey and mix it in very well.
– Using a heaping tablespoon to somewhat measure out the meat, form meatballs.  (Tip: wet your hands to help keep the meat from sticking to them)
– Bake them at 375F for 20-25 minutes, and then stick them under the broiler for a few more minutes until they brown a little.
– For the garlic dipping sauce, roughly chop 5 cloves of garlic add it to the blender with salt and a little squeeze of lemon juice. Blend for a minute till the garlic is well blended.
– Add the white of one egg and blend again.
– Now keeping the blender on medium, slowly pour in the oil steadily. A thin stream is not necessary, but don’t go crazy.
– At this stage it should have emulsified and turned white and resemble mayonnaise. If it looks like it has split, something’s gone wrong. I’d just start over.
– As soon as all the the oil is incorporated into the mix, turn it off. Add the rest of the lemon juice or even taste it to see if you want more lemon juice (I happen to like it tangy). And add a tablespoon or 2 of ice cold water and pulse the mix 5-6 times. It’ll turn wonderfully light and creamy.

Print Recipe