Herbed Ground Turkey Meatballs (Variation of Persian Koofteh)

1 lb Turkey - 99% Fat Free Ground Turkey Breast
2 Onions (1 grated to mix with meat, 1 diced for sauce)
4 Cloves Garlic, diced
0.5 cup Egg Beater
1 cup Indian, Aromatic Basmati Rice
1 cup Tomato Sauce
1 14.5 oz can Organic Diced Tomatoes
2 Green Peppers, sliced into spears
1 cup Parsley, chopped
1 cup Dill weed, fresh, chopped
1 cup Tarragon, fresh, chopped
1 cup Cilantro, fresh, chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tsp Tumeric plus dash
1 tsp Ground Saffron

1. Place the rice in a medium-size pot, add 3 cups of water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook 10 minutes until rice is almost finished cooking.
2. Remove from heat, drain and set aside to cool.
3. In a large pan saute diced onions in oil, when golden brown add garlic and a dash of turmeric. Stir well.
4. Pour both tomato sauce and diced tomatoes into the pot, add some salt and pepper and also pour in 2 cups of water and sliced peppers. Cover and let it simmer while you make the meat mixture.
5. In a large bowl combine rice, meat, grated onion, egg substitute, herbs, salt, pepper, turmeric and saffron and mix thoroughly yet gently. All the ingredients should be well distributed.
6. Form into small balls and gentle place into the tomato sauce. The mixture will fuse together and solidify if allowed time untouched. Covering the pot to allow steaming will help the process. Continue to add meatballs until all are successfully solid and cooked.
7. All mixture to continue to simmer for an hour. This will infuse the flavor of the tomatoes and pepper into the meat and make everything softer.
8. Adjust seasoning if needed.

Serve with yogurt or pickles (torshi) and warm bread.


Serving Size: makes 12 servings of 3 meatballs each

Number of Servings: 12

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user ROWINGUNL.