Apple Meatballs in Wine Sauce
An easy meal for any day of the week.
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 1.25 pounds ground turkey
- 3/4 pound ground pork
- 1 Granny Smith apple or apple of your choice, peeled, cored and diced
- 1/2 of a medium size onion (yellow or white), peeled and diced
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 teaspoon diced fresh (peeled) ginger root
- 1 egg
- 1 clove garlic peeled and diced
- 1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the Wine Sauce:
- 3/4 cup prepared barbecue sauce
- 3/4 cup prepared teriyaki sauce
- 1 cup red wine Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Noir, or Zinfandel
For Garnish:
- 3 teaspoons raw or toasted sesame seeds
- 3 tablespoons chopped chives or the green part of a green onion, chopped
Instructions
For the Meatballs:
- In a large mixing bowl, add ground turkey, ground pork, apple, onion, bread crumbs, ginger root, egg, garlic, pepper and red pepper flakes.
- Mix together until the ingredients are incorporated.
- Roll the meat into balls a little bit smaller than a golf ball.
- In a large skillet add olive oil so that it covers the bottom of the pan. Heat the pan on medium heat and add the meatballs.
- Cook the meatballs until they brown on all sides and are thoroughly cooked (about 10 minutes).
- Transfer the cooked meatballs onto a plate and set aside.
For the Wine Sauce:
- In the skillet that the meatballs were cooked in (with all of the crunchy leftovers in the pan), carefully drain out just the excess oil into a separate heat-proof container such as a coffee mug or empty can (when the excess oil has cooled, discard).
- In the skillet with the crunchy leftovers, add wine. Heat the pan on low to medium heat and stir.
- Stir in the teriyaki sauce and the barbecue sauce.
- Put the meatballs back into the skillet and gently mix the meatballs in the wine sauce until they are coated with the sauce.
- Serve the warm meatballs and sauce over warm white rice.
- Garnish with sesame seeds, chopped green onions and, or chives.