Turkey Meatballs with Feta Cheese

I keep tweaking my meatball recipe. This time I used only ground turkey. Jennie-O brand has some pre-seasoned, packaged ground turkey which I find at my local Kroger store. I now use this in place of pork Italian sausage in soups, on pizza, and mixed in with jarred tomato marinara sauce over pasta. I add a few items to bump up the flavor. 

We are trying to eat a lower carbohydrate diet. My husband suggested we have Italian meatballs in marinara suave with feta cheese sans pasta. It was a great meal with a salad. 

Turkey Italian Meatballs

2 pounds ground turkey (Jennie-O Italian   Seasoned Lean Ground Turkey)

1/2 cup Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs 

2 cloves of garlic, finely grated or minced 

1/3 to 1/2 of a small onion, finely grated or minced

1 egg

3 tablespoons fresh, finely chopped Italian flat leaf parsley

1 teaspoon dried oregano 

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon salt (I used kosher salt)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 

Spray two 13" X 9" X 2" pans with non-stick cooking spray. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; use you hands to work all ingredients into the ground turkey.  Shape turkey mixture into 16 to 18 meatballs (sized a little larger than golf balls). Place in prepared pans, with space between each meatball (so they are not touching while baking). 

Bake meatballs uncovered, in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes or until cooked through. 

I added half of the meatballs to a jar of tomato marinara sauce in a pot and simmered it for about 5 to 8 minutes, while I made up a salad. We had the meatballs and salad with some crumbled feta cheese and it was a flavorful, lower carbohydrate meal (and two leftover portions for easy lunches later in the week). 

I froze the other half of the meatballs for future meals.