Baked Turkey Meatballs and Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Spinach, Sage Sauce

Ground turkey is one of our favorite things around here. You can do so much with ground beef and (shocker) you can use ground turkey in pretty much all of the same ways. If you get really lean ground turkey, it can be better for you than ground beef, and as long as you make sure you have enough moisture and seasonings, it can be just as moist and flavorful as ground beef.

I've heard a lot of rumors about sweet potatoes being much better for you than regular potatoes. See CSPI's nutritional ratings for vegetables here. Sweet potatoes are wayy way up there! So instead of making regular potato gnocchi for dinner I opted for more nutritional sweet potato gnocchi. In my recipes for dinner last night, I used sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes, ground turkey instead of ground beef, and whole wheat bread and flour instead of store-bought bread crumbs, white bread or all-purpose flour whenever possible to try and make these recipes more healthy. We had Baked Turkey Meatballs and Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Spinach, Sage Sauce for dinner last night, and it turned out super yummy!

Disclaimer: The meatballs had too much moisture in them so when they I pulled them out of the oven it looked kind of like meatball quiche because the egg/moisture firmed up, filling the pan around the meatballs. We just cut the meatballs out, at them, and they were still delicious! I'm going to try to perfect this recipe soon and see if I can make it turn out prettier, but feel free to try it anyway if you're looking for something yummy and aren't afraid to cut your meatballs out in the pan. Or, if you want to, feel free to play around with proportions/ingredients and make them better. (I would recommend cutting down on the milk or adding more bread). Let me know if you do so I can share in the deliciousness too please!

What you need

For the meatballs

(makes about 30-35 pretty big meatballs)

3 lbs lean ground turkey

3 slices whole wheat bread (crust removed)

1 cup milk

a splash of Worcestershire sauce

3 eggs

3 large cloves of garlic

2 tbsp parsley flakes

salt to taste (I used about a tsp)

pepper (I used about 2 tsp but I like stuff really spicy)

crushed red pepper to taste (I used about a tsp)

nonstick spray

For the gnocchi

2 large sweet potatoes (should equal about 2 c. when peeled and mashed)

1/2 c. low-fat ricotta cheese

2 Tbsp low-fat or fat-free cream cheese (softened)

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

All-purpose flour for the counter

To taste: salt (I did about 1 tsp), pepper (2 tsp), cinnamon (1 Tbsp), nutmeg (1 tsp). Feel free to experiment with these proportions based on how much spice you like.

For the sauce

1/2 c. olive oil

1 cup thawed, frozen spinach or fresh spinach that has been cooked and wilted down

1 tbsp sage seasoning

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tbsp cream cheese

A few handfuls of Parmesan cheese

What you do

For the meatballs

Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly spray a large cookie sheet with nonstick cookie spray.

Break up bread slices with your hands (pieces should be small, about 1/2 inch square-ish) and put them in the bottom of a medium bowl. Pour the milk over bread pieces and allow them to soak for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile in a large bowl, combine all the other ingredients. After 5 minutes(ish) pour bread/milk mixture in with everything else. Mix well with your hands until combined.

See what I mean about the moisture/egg filling the pan? I promise they still tasted good.

Form the mixture into balls about 1 1/2 inches thick. Put the meatballs on the cookie sheet and bake until golden brown (when they look ready I usually taste one. Just to make sure...) I let them bake for about 35-40 minutes. But I would just watch them when you think they are getting close. I haven't made this enough to have it down to a science.

For the gnocchi

Cook the sweet potatoes. You can bake them, boil them, whatever your preference. I microwaved them just to save time. Google "how to [insert cooking method of choice] a sweet potato" and you should be able to come up with instructions for how to cook them.

While they're cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once the sweet potatoes are cooked, allow to cool slightly so you can handle them, then cut them in half, scoop flesh into a medium-sized bowl, discard skins, and mash flesh. (hahaha. that sounds gross).

To the sweet potato mash add the ricotta cheese, softened cream cheese and spices. Mix well. Add the whole wheat flour. You may only need 1 1/4 c. of the flour, but keep the rest. If the mixture is really mushy add the last 1/4 c. Flour your counter top with all-purpose flour. (You could use whole wheat flour to roll them, but I think it makes the gnocchi taste too grainy).

Turn the dough out onto the floured surface. Divide into sections (it doesn't really matter how many sections you have). Roll each section into a 1 inch rope. Cut the rope into 1 inch segments. Each of these individual 1 inch squares is your gnocchi. (If you don't like the square look, you can roll each gnocchi in your hand to make it more rounded and rectangle-ish. You could also roll them over a fork to give them some fancy ridges.)

Line them up on a large plate of baking sheet and when you have enough to cover half the bottom of your pot, drop them into the boiling water. When the gnocchi float, they are done (mine took about 4-6 minutes). Continue with the other batches when the first batch is done. When all batches are done, cover with the sauce and serve. MMMMM...

For the sauce

Heat oil, spinach, nutmeg, and sage in a sauce pan (or microwave haha) until hot. Stir in cream cheese and parmesan cheese and continue cooking just until cooked through and slightly creamy. Pour over gnocchi and serve.