Spaghetti and Meatballs

I recently tried a recipe for spaghetti and meatballs, where the meatballs were simmered in the sauce. It was from a source I normally trust, and it sounded good, but I thought the meatballs were horrible! They had a really mushy texture from simmering in the sauce, which I couldn't stomach.

I wanted to make spaghetti and meatballs again, as the husband has requested it several times recently, so I did some Internet digging and found a recipe from Alton Brown that incorporated spinach into the meatballs and then bakes them in the oven. I decided to riff off his recipe, switching out grated zucchini for the spinach and changing the seasonings to use what I had on hand.

These meatballs were infinitesimally better than the other recipe I tried! I simmered a semi-homemade tomato sauce to top the noodles and made some quick garlic bread to go with the meal and both the husband and I were happy.

Spaghetti and Meatballs
Source: meatballs inspired by Alton Brown
Printable Recipe

Meatball Ingredients
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 a zucchini, peeled and grated
2 tablespoons dried basil
1 tablespoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 Tablespoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup panko + 3/4 cup additional
1 egg

Tomato Sauce Ingredients
(double this if you like a lot of sauce or there are more than 2 people)
1 can stewed Italian tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1 Tablespoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 teaspoons pepper
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Put a pot of water on to boil for the noodles.

Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray and set aside.

Combine the turkey, zucchini, seasonings and egg in a medium bowl and mix to combine. Add the 1/4 cup panko and mix into the meat mixture.

Pour the 3/4 panko into a small bowl.

Form the meat into meatballs and roll each meatball into the panko. Set the meatballs on the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

While the meatballs bake, combine the stewed tomatoes, the tomato paste, cheese, and seasonings in a small saucepan and simmer. You can add some water to make a thinner sauce if you like.

Cook the spaghetti noodles according to the directions on the package. Drain the water from the cooked noodles.

Layer the noodles, sauce and meatballs and enjoy!