PESTO INFUSED TURKEY MEATBALLS & BUCATINI
PESTO MEATBALLS … yes, the pesto is IN the balls.
One pesto, two jobs. Zero dinner drama. This weeknight wonder keeps it delicious and efficient. Blend up a simple yet vibrant basil-walnut pesto and let it do all the heavy lifting—use it as the flavoring for your extra juicy turkey meatballs and transform it into your bucatini’s glossy, herb-centric sauce. Finish it all off with grated parmesan, baby basil leaves, and a buttery crunch of walnuts, it’s a dinner that looks fancy but plays fast. Weeknight win? Absolutely. Chef vibes? Always.
PESTO INFUSED TURKEY MEATBALLS & BUCATINI
This quick and easy recipe is so fun! Skip all of the chopping of onions, garlic, herbs ... for your meatballs, and instead, start by making your pesto sauce in a food processor and then use two tablespoons of it to season your ground meat. SO EASY! What a great weeknight timesaver.
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a food processor, combine the basil leaves, parmesan cheese, olive oil, and walnuts. Blend until smooth and set aside.
- In a large bowl, season the ground turkey with salt and black pepper. Add two tablespoons of the prepared pesto and mix thoroughly until well combined. Set the remaining pesto aside, it will get zhuzhed and become your sauce.
- Form the mixture into meatballs, about one and a half inches in diameter.
- Heat a large skillet over high heat and add a drizzle of grapeseed oil. Sear the meatballs on one side until lightly golden, then flip and sear the other side until golden again—about 2-3 minutes on each side.
- Reduce the heat to low, cover the skillet, and continue cooking until the internal temperature of the meatballs reaches 165º—5-7 minutes.
- While the meatballs cook, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the bucatini and cook according to the package instructions until al dente. Drain and set aside.
- Thin out the remaining pesto with extra virgin olive oil, adjusting to your desired sauce consistency. I used an extra 1/2 a cup.
- Toss the cooked bucatini with the thinned pesto sauce until well coated.
- Plate the pasta and nestle in the warm pesto turkey meatballs.
- Finish with a sprinkle of grated parmesan, a few small whole basil leaves, and a light scatter of crumbled walnuts.
