NEW VIDEO!!! Pia and I cooked up this week night dinner that is meant to be so easy that she could make it all on her own!
Pia and I made this video with our partner California Walnuts and we hope you love it!
So if you remember last year when I was gone in Canada with Coco all winter, Pia really leaned into cooking dinner. Pete is great at lots of things- but the kitchen is not his strength! Pia however, absolutely loves to cook and bake. All she needs is a recipe and she will just forge ahead! We are headed back to Canada soon so that Coco can film season two of Gabby Duran and Pia is stockpiling her “specialties” which definitely include this recipe!
Simple, fast recipes are a benefit for any and all on weeknights. Whether we are all showing up after work or school activities hungry and exhausted- you just want a good dinner on the table as soon as possible!
I love how nutritious this pesto is, loaded with spinach and walnuts which are packed with vitamins and omega-3’s! It is very flavorful with fresh garlic and lemon juice and black pepper- and the color is awesome.
The turkey meatballs are extra tender with the addition of a secret ingredient! Mashed Potato flakes!!! (if you can’t find those- potato flour works well too!) plus there is ground walnuts in the meatballs as well which dial up the fat content and deliciousness in these juicy meatballs!
Hope that you love this recipe as much as our family does!
- Spinach Walnut Pesto Pasta with Turkey Meatballs
- 1 pound spaghetti, gluten-free
- Turkey Meatballs:
- 2 pounds of lean ground turkey
- ½ red onion, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoons walnuts
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- ½ cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
- ½ cup dehydrated mashed potato flakes
- Spinach Walnut Pesto:
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 cup walnuts
- 4 cups fresh spinach
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and prepare a sheetpan with a silpat or piece of parchment paper. Also, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- To make the Turkey Meatballs: in the bowl of a food processor, combine the onion chunks, garlic cloves, Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, salt and red pepper flakes. Pulse until you have a smooth puree. Transfer it to a large mixing bowl. Add the ground turkey to the puree and then add the dried oregano, parsley and mashed potato flakes. Using clean hands, mix together everything really well and then form evenly sized meatballs from the mixture that are a little bigger than golf balls. You should get about 16 meatballs. Place them all on the prepared sheetpan and place in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
- While the meatballs are cooking, add the spaghetti to the water and stir well, cooking to al dente according to package directions. This should take about 10 minutes.
- While the spaghetti is cooking make the pesto. Add the garlic and the walnuts to the bowl of a food processor and pulse. Add the spinach and basil and pulse until everything is well chopped. Stream in the olive oil and lemon juice while the blade is running, and the pesto should come together and get creamy. Season to taste with the salt and pepper and set aside.
- Drain the pasta and add back to the pot. Gently stir the pasta and the pesto together and then quickly transfer to a platter and serve immediately with the meatballs.
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I adore all of your recipes.
It looks so good. I appreciate your recipes.