Sometimes a Sign – Turkey Meatballs In Romesco Sauce
Small Plates Saturday Night has become a tradition in our household, even more so since the pandemic has made dining out a gamble we do not feel is worth the risk. I cook three, four, five, six small dishes, while relaxing and pushing the pressures of our lives to the recesses of our consciousness. It is a time for me to make classics as well as experiment with new ingredients and new dishes. I take advantage of what’s available in the garden and I use provisions that might otherwise spoil if not soon consumed. I try to replicate plates we’ve been served at restaurants and I create new recipes of my own. I find ways to incorporate interesting ingredients I have discovered in my travels to supermarkets of different cultures. (I usually post pictures on Instagram – @maxskitchenandgarden – in my stories each week.)
Early this Saturday I was thinking up a menu for this week’s edition of Small Plates Saturday Night. There was cocktail sauce leftover from a previous dinner and shrimp in the freezer, so maybe I’d start with shrimp cocktail. I had recently purchased a small slab of pork and chicken liver pâté. We could nibble on that with some crackers, as I cooked other elements of the meal. Since it’s peak citrus season, why not a winter citrus salad with radicchio, endive, and toasted pecans? A warm soup is always good in February, and so a small bowl of simple miso soup would fit in well. And a leftover piece of thin-sliced, grilled chicken cutlet, along with fresh mozzarella and pesto, would make an excellent grilled cheese sandwich.
But I needed one more plate. I rummaged through my freezer, where I often have small portions stashed for just such an emergency. Homemade Chinese dumplings and char siu (Chinese barbeque pork). Potato-stuffed pierogis, samosas, and knishes. Small containers of brisket and soup. Bags of meat, cut and ready to go, just enough for a couple of short kebabs – chicken or lamb.
On this treasure hunt, I found homemade turkey meatballs, fully cooked and ready to be reheated. This is what I wanted, although I didn’t have the faintest idea with what I would serve them. I didn’t want pasta and sauce or a meatball Parmesan sandwich, so I would need to come up with something different or find a new dish altogether. As the day wore on, nothing was coming to mind. I had recently bought a pile of red peppers, so maybe I would roast them and make roasted red pepper bruschetta as part of the meal instead. That would be a tasty option. But as I sat down to relax for a few minutes, I picked up the current issue of Bon Appétit and there it was, right on the open page – Turkey Meatballs with Romesco Sauce, a Spanish sauce usually served on fish or meats, made with roasted peppers and ground nuts, often with roasted tomatoes and stale bread to give it body. It was a sign, the meatballs and peppers together.
Of course I would modify the recipe – my meatballs were already made, after all, and I’d roast my own red peppers rather than opening a jar. A quick internet search of numerous recipes yielded a list of typical ingredients for the romesco sauce. From that list, I would create my own.
Once peppers and tomatoes were roasted, the rest was easy; heating the meatballs and blitzing the rest in the food processor was all it would take. And if you use jarred roasted peppers and canned fire-roasted tomatoes, this is a dish you can have on the table in minutes. I served the meatballs and sauce as our final course, and they were delicious; an excellent addition to Small Plates Saturday Night.
Turkey Meatballs In Romesco Sauce
This sauce is tangy and sweet and has great body from the ground almonds and stale bread. It is perfect on meatballs, but is often served with fish or other meats. It would also be excellent as a dip for vegetables or spread on a sandwich. While this version is certainly not authentic, it’s quite good. If you do not want to roast your own tomatoes or peppers, use canned fire-roasted tomatoes or jarred roasted red peppers. It will be a quick and easy dinner or addition to your Small Plates Saturday Night.
20 minutes, serves 2
2 plum tomatoes
¼ cup almonds, toasted
1 piece stale bread (or slightly toasted) or ¼ cup breadcrumbs
1 cup roasted red peppers, drained if from a jar
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp. sherry vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
½ tsp. smoked paprika
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. fresh ground pepper
10 turkey meatballs
Fresh parsley for garnish
- Place tomatoes on a foil-lined pan and broil each side for 5 to 7 minutes, turning as necessary, until softened and slightly charred. Allow to cool and roughly chop.
- While the tomatoes are roasting, add the toasted almonds and bread or breadcrumbs to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until ground.
- Add the roasted tomatoes, roasted red peppers, garlic, sherry vinegar, olive oil, smoked paprika, cayenne, salt, and pepper to the bowl and process to a paste, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add water a tablespoon at a time to get the consistency desired.
- Heat romesco sauce briefly in microwave or a small pot, to warm through.
- Heat meatballs.
- Set a generous dollop of romesco sauce in the center of a two plates, set meatballs on top and add more sauce and garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.
