Having a good spaghetti sauce recipe in your arsenal is a great thing to have. So is a good meatball/meatloaf recipe. These two recipes together? Fuggeddabouddit!

This recipe is so stupid good, and a definite crowd-pleaser. If you’ve browsed the ingredient list already, I know what you’re thinking. It looks like a shitload of stuff, but the ingredients highlighted in orange (or SandyBrown as specified in the HTML color guide *geek!*) are things that you probably have in your refrigerator or pantry.

I almost typed panty.

HA!

Having those things in your panties would most definitely NOT be a good thing!

Moving along….

These meatballs were inspired by my mother’s recipe for meatloaf that I absolutely adore! It’s been edited a bit – I’ve grown fond of turkey, and like to work spinach into different things. The spinach is hardly noticeable in this dish, and is a great way to get your kids (or adults even) to eat those greens! The spaghetti sauce is my norm, although normally the base is one can of whole tomatoes, and one can of tomato sauce. To my dismay I found no such sauce in my pantry *giggle*, but I did have tomato paste and chicken stock. That combo is just as good – good enough to change my normal recipe forever!! I hope you enjoy!

[TIP!] To get really dry spinach to put in your meatballs, place the thawed spinach in the center of a clean kitchen towel. Bring up the sides of the towel, and grasp them together at the top of the spinach, forming a ball. Twist the ball of spinach as if you were wringing out a towel, and you’ll see all the water squeeze out! This method works better than straining I think. Just make sure to break up the spinach a bit with your hands before trying to mix it into the meat mixture, because it remains in that ball form after being squeezed to death.

This is one of my favorite pasta sauces.

What’s YOUR favorite kind of pasta sauce?

Sinister Spaghetti w/ Turkey Meatballs

½ lb. (6 oz) Whole Wheat Spaghetti, cooked per package directions
1 lb. Ground Turkey
3 Sm. Slices of Bread, torn into small pieces -OR- one hamburger bun
1 Egg
¼ tsp. Ground Sage
¼ tsp. Celery Seed
½ tsp. Ground Mustard
1 Tbsp. Dried Minced Onion
1 tsp. Garlic Salt
½ C. Milk
10 oz Box thawed Frozen Chopped Spinach
1 14.5 oz. Can Whole Peeled Tomatoes
1 6oz. Can Tomato Paste
2 C. Chicken Stock
1 Medium Onion, diced
3 Cloves garlic, minced finely
2 T. Fresh Thyme
Dash of Red Pepper flakes
½ C. Red Wine
Salt & pepper to taste.
2 T. Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Bring a sauté pan to medium heat, adding olive oil and onions. Turn heat to low, and simmer the onions until translucent, about 10 minutes. While the onions are sautéing, mix the ground turkey, bread, egg, sage, celery seed, ground mustard, minced onion, garlic salt, milk, strained chopped spinach, and pepper to taste. Form into 12 meatballs. Spray a cookie sheet with olive oil or Pam, and arrange the meatballs. Place in the oven for 15 minutes, or until done. Add tomato paste and chicken stock to the simmering onions, and cook until slightly reduced, about 3 minutes. Add in the wine, thyme, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Using your hands, crush the whole peeled tomatoes into small pieces, and add to the sauce. Cook until heated through. Add your drained pasta to the sauce, and toss to coat. Top with the turkey meatballs.

Sinister Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs Printable Recipe