Tasty Tuesday: Spaghetti and Spicy Turkey Meatballs

This meal was actually made for the holiday last Monday that we all refer to as Valentine's Day. I ended up having the night off and Hub thought he would get to come home a little earlier however weather and traffic had other plans. He didn't get home until a little later but I had some dinner ready. I had been inspired by some recipes I had been looking through and decided to try something new as I like to do from time to time. Isn't it funny how we just fall into a pattern of cooking our "go-to" meals and it is hard to stray away? Well it is for me at least. That's why I try to read cookbooks and try to keep main ingredients in my head from recipes listed in magazines so I can remember to try new ones. Anyone else with me on this? Anyway, back to Tasty Tuesday. I prepared this spaghetti dish and it was a big hit with the both of us.

Spaghetti and Spicy Turkey Meatballs

**courtesy of an "archived" copy of a Better Homes and Gardens Magazine

Heat oven to 375

In a bowl stir together 2 eggs whites, lightly beaten, 2 tbsp. olive oil, 1 tbsp. milk, 2 tsp. chili powder, 1 tsp. black pepper and 1/2 tsp salt

In a large bowl combine 2 lb. uncooked ground turkey, 1/3 cup finely chopped onion, 1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs, 2 jalapeño peppers and 1 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
Fold egg mixture into turkey mixture; mix well. shape turkey mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls. Place on foil-lines baking pan. Bake 20 minutes or until no longer pink. (170 degrees)

Cook 1 14-16 oz. package dried multi-grain, whole wheat, or regular spaghetti, with one tablespoon of salt added to the water. Drain; keep warm.

In the same pan used for pasta, melt 2 3 oz. packages of cream cheese over low heat. Add 2 cups of milk and cook, stirring until bubbly.

Return spaghetti to pan; toss to coat with cream cheese mixture.

Serve with meatballs, cheese and cilantro.

So. Confession. I did not follow this recipe. I strayed when we started with the sauce. I didn't have any cream cheese and was trying to just use what we had and not go to the store. For the sauce, I made a roux  then added milk to that and season with Italian seasonings, salt, pepper and garlic powder.

I then put a little bit of regular onion, green onion and garlic in the food processor and pulsed that up to go in the sauce. I then thawed out some frozen spinach, dried it out and added that to the sauce. I let that simmer together for awhile, cooked the meatballs when I knew Hub was on his way and came up with this:

Like I said, it turned out really delicious. I am sure it would be delicious if I had followed the other recipe too, however, I am not known to follow cooking recipes too exactly. Enjoy!

What did you have for Valentine's dinner? What is your favorite pasta dish? Do you have a secret recipe for meatballs you would like to share?