Turkey and Ricotta Oddballs
#11
  Re: (...)
We made these for dinner last night. Obviously we used turkey instead of veal. I've made a few notes on the prep and I'll add a couple more comments.

Make sure your cocktail, glass of wine, or water bottle is close at hand. Do NOT try to multi task! These guys go from pale and raw to dark brownin a flash. Have a backup oddball flipper in case you need to go to the bathroom mid meatball browning. Also - do not try to make them any bigger than 1 1/2". Don't ask how I know that they collapse and become patties instead of balls.

These are sinfully good! Everyone loved them and pigged out totally.

Turkey Ricotta Oddballs
(serves 6)

* 1 1/2 lbs ground turkey

* 3 cups fresh ricotta cheese

* 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

* 1 large egg

* 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

* 3/4 teaspoon sea salt

* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

* All-purpose flour for dusting

* Canola oil for frying

* 1 can (28 ounces) San Marzano tomatoes, chopped

* 1 stick of butter

* 1/4 bunch fresh basil, roughly chopped

* 1 garlic clove, chopped
__________

1. Preheat the oven to 350'F

2. In a mixer bowl with the paddle attachment, place the veal, ricotta, parmesan, egg, nutmeg, salt and pepper (keep all the ingredients cold before starting)

3. Mix at medium speed until the mixture comes together, about 1 minute - be sure to scrape down the bowl well at least once or you will find unincorporated meat. It will be a wet mixture.
4. Dust your hands with flour and form the mixture into oddballs (1 1/2 in diameter). Okay you can do it that way if you want - but it's much easier to just use a 1 1/2 cookie scoop. The other way you wind up with goop.
5. Pour 1 inch of oil into a large non-stick skillet over high heat. I didn't have canoloa oil - used olive. I would change this part. Much easier to put an inch of oil in an 8" saute pan. Save the big pan for the final baking.

6. Sear the oddballs in batches until golden brown on all sides. Tranfer to a tray lined with paper towels
7. Clean the skillet, add the tomatoes, the butter, basil and garlic. You won't have to wash the skillet if you use a smaller one.
8. Simmer for 5 minutes before adding the oddballs

9. Cover and braise in the oven for 1 hour or until the sauce is thick

10. Adjust seasoning if necessary

11. Serve over fresh pasta sprinkled with chopped basil and parmesan. We served over radiatore - and they were perfect. I had hoped to make pasta but. . . ?

We also served this with the carrots and fennel in this month's issue!!! Fantasitc!!
You only live once . . . but if you do it right once should be enough!
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#12
  Re: Turkey and Ricotta Oddballs by Harborwitch (We made these for di...)
I'm glad they turned out well Sharon. I like the idea of the turkey instead of the veal. I've got this one on my A Try List Cookbook just haven't gotten to it yet. I guess I need to bump it up the list. I'm adding your notes to my recipe.
Daphne
Keep your mind wide open.
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#13
  Re: Turkey and Ricotta Oddballs by Harborwitch (We made these for di...)
Thanks, Sharon, these are on the list for just-for-me, appreciate the notes.

PJ
PJ
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#14
  Re: Re: Turkey and Ricotta Oddballs by pjcooks (Thanks, Sharon, thes...)
Hey these look good...ever try them with the veal???

I am going to assume it would be a matter of switching the veal for the turkey???
"Ponder well on this point: the pleasant hours of our life are all connected, by a more or less tangible link, with some memory of the table."-Charles Pierre Monselet, French author(1825-1888)
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#15
  Re: Re: Turkey and Ricotta Oddballs by firechef (Hey these look good....)
The original called for veal. It's hard to get here sometimes, and since Jennifer doesn't eat beef, veal, pork, or lamb the turkey worked fine.
You only live once . . . but if you do it right once should be enough!
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#16
  Re: Re: Turkey and Ricotta Oddballs by Harborwitch (The original called ...)
I can understand that...might just try it once with veal and ground pork sounds nice too.
"Ponder well on this point: the pleasant hours of our life are all connected, by a more or less tangible link, with some memory of the table."-Charles Pierre Monselet, French author(1825-1888)
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#17
  Re: Re: Turkey and Ricotta Oddballs by firechef (I can understand tha...)
is this from issue 67? Wow, no wonder they are so fragile - 3 cups ricotta!! But I bet they are tasty.

Just looked - not in that issue, where the heck are the oddballs?
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
www.achefsjourney.com
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#18
  Re: Re: Turkey and Ricotta Oddballs by cjs (is this from issue 6...)
I have heard from a little birdy that they came from a member of another site's personal website...that's just what I have heard from "Mom".
"Ponder well on this point: the pleasant hours of our life are all connected, by a more or less tangible link, with some memory of the table."-Charles Pierre Monselet, French author(1825-1888)
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#19
  Re: Turkey and Ricotta Oddballs by Harborwitch (We made these for di...)
These are in the oven braising as we speak. So far, so good, but they are very fragile. The little bites I was sneaking were pretty tasty. I did add a bit more nutmeg unintentionally (hey, I was grating nutmeg while watching the end of a tearjerker and forgot what I was doing) but they still tasted good. I'm going to bring these to my boys for supper but I won't tell them it's veal, ya'll know how kids can be

Recipe sure did make a lot, though, and I cut it down by a third.

PJ

Editing to add, boy, are these good
PJ
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#20
  Re: Re: Turkey and Ricotta Oddballs by pjcooks (These are in the ove...)
Sharon, thank you so much for reminding me of these. I used the turkey also. Boy were these delish! They were so tender! A bit of a challenge to sear and I was afraid I'd ruin them, but they turned out fine. Some of them just weren't the pretty round you would get with beef and/or pork. I'm wondering if that's why he named them "oddballs"? I doubled the recipe...again...(Big eater employee still here.) and had way too much to fix. I froze about a third of the mixture. I hope this works out with the ricotta...advice?

I'll do this again! I'll probably use the "extra" for meatball subs this weekend!
Daphne
Keep your mind wide open.
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