Baked Pesto Turkey Meatballs over Lemon Cauliflower Rice
 
 
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
for the pesto turkey meatballs
  • 16 ounces ground turkey
  • ¼ cup basil pesto
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
for the lemon cauliflower rice
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 16 ounces riced cauliflower, about 4 cups
  • ½ lemon, zested
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
Directions
for the pesto turkey meatballs
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking pan with nonstick aluminum foil or spray with nonstick spray. Set aside.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the ground turkey, pesto, olive oil, salt and pepper. Try not to over-mix. Form the mixture into 16 meatballs and place on the prepared baking sheet. I like to divide the mixture in the bowl into 4 sections, then make 4 even-sized meatballs out of each section. Bake for 20 minutes or until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Serve over the cauliflower rice with steamed broccoli.
for the lemon cauliflower rice
  1. Mince the garlic. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the riced cauliflower and cook until almost tender. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Stir to combine and remove from the heat when the cauliflower rice is tender.
Notes
This is what I did to freeze the meatballs. I lined a small baking sheet that would fit in my freezer with wax paper. Then I formed the meatballs and placed them on the prepared baking sheet. Put them in the freezer and leave them in there until they harden then remove and put them all into a freezer bag. I baked them right from frozen and just added a couple minutes onto the baking time. Just temp them and make sure they reach 165 degrees F.
You can use fresh or frozen riced cauliflower for this recipe. I used the Trader Joe’s frozen riced cauliflower.
Recipe by Lemon & Mocha at http://www.lemonandmocha.com/2018/08/22/baked-pesto-turkey-meatballs-over-lemon-cauliflower-rice/