sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
Meatballs:
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¼ small onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1¼ pounds ground turkey, preferably 93% lean or less
1 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove excess moisture
½ cup grated Asiago cheese
½ cup fresh bread crumbs (see notes)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
Make the marinara sauce:
In a medium sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add garlic, oregano and chili flakes; season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add tomato paste and 1 tablespoon water and cook, stirring constantly, until tomato paste begins to darken, about 3 minutes.
Add tomatoes, crushing with your hands as you add them. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, 20-25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Make the meatballs:
Preheat broiler. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray.
Combine all the meatball ingredients in a medium bowl and mix with your hands. Form into 1½" balls and arrange on the baking sheet. Brush meatballs with oil.
Broil meatballs, rotating sheet halfway through, until browned all over and cooked through, 15-18 minutes. Add to marinara sauce.
Notes
To make fresh bread crumbs, place a few bread chunks in a food processor and pulse to the desired crumb size. You can use almost any kind of bread; I usually have random pieces of bread in the freezer that I defrost, toast and cool before pulsing.
Recipe by Two of a Kind at http://www.twoofakindcooks.com/spinach-turkey-meatballs/