Authentic Spaghetti Sauce with Turkey Meatballs & Turkey Sausage

There's nothing like the saturating aroma of a tomato sauce slow cooking in your kitchen for hours - warm, inviting, nostalgic - if you breath in deep enough you can literaly taste the savory richness. Both of Italian descent, we believe ourselves to be unofficial experts on the art of tomato sauce composition. Having the custom of partaking in a spaghetti dinner our whole lives, "the sauce" has become a personal staple. Like most traditional foods, every household offers their own personal take - spaghetti sauce is no exception to this practice. We all have varying taste-buds and likes. For instance,  Jocelyn's mother makes her sauce with parmesan cheese added. Where in Linda's family, cheese is only added when the spaghetti is served and ready for eating. There are also varying degrees of meats. But for the sake of a healthier fare – which is quite delicious in its own right - we're going to offer a turkey meatball recipe with added turkey sausage. This sauce is less greasy with the turkey meat, but incredibly, the meatballs are out-of-this-world tender! But please, add braciole, pork sausage and pork & beef meatballs if you wish - this will establish a darker, richer flavored sauce. Also, this turkey sauce is on the chunkier, thicker side - so if that is your forte, this will become the only sauce you'll ever make.

Because of the diversity that a tomato sauce presents, we decided not have this recipe as a 101. So with this said, please allow us to present the turkey meat spaghetti sauce as a non-essential, however one of our absolute faves.

*Recipes offers 6-10 servings, depending on how much meat is added. There tends to always be leftover sauce that is ideal for the base of many other sauces - one being, our Curry Chicken Marsala Sauce.

-Please read instructions thoroughly before attempting.

Sauce Recipe:

- 1 lb. hot turkey sausage
- 2 - 28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes (we find that the generic is nicer, less sweet)
- 1 - 28 oz can chopped tomatoes with juice
- 1 - 6 oz. can tomato paste
- 1/2 C caberney sauvignon red wine
- 2 1/2 T olive oil, divided
- 1/2 green pepper, roughly chopped - 3/4 C (think chicken marsala)
- 1 large chopped vidalia onion, roughly chopped - 1 C
- 1 C thickly sliced baby bella mushrooms
- 6 cloves of garlic (three grated - three thinly sliced)
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 T dried oregano
- 2 T dried basil
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 T cracked black pepper
- 1 T kosher salt
- 1 T white granulated sugar


1. In large saucepan on medium/high heat coat bottom of pan with 1/2 T of olive oil. When oil is to temperature brown all four sides of the turkey sausage. We cut them in half before frying.

2. Deglaze pan by adding wine, leaving sausage in. Remove fond, or brown pan bits with wooden spoon. Reduce heat to medium. Add green peppers and cover pot for 1-2 min. Stir then add onion, mushrooms & garlic. Cover for another minute then stir.

3. Add cans of tomatoes, including paste. Then add spices and sugar. And finally, add the 2T of olive oil. Stir thorougly then simmer on medium heat for 20 min.

Meatball Recipe:

*Yields 8 meatballs

- 1 lb. ground turkey
- 1/2 C breadcrumbs, homemade ideal
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 C grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
**(milk is a popular ingredient to add moisture - we've found that it does not offer turkey meatballs any additional moisture than what is provided above)


1. In medium-sized bowl add all ingredients then hand mix until fully blended.

2. Shape into balls the size of medium tomatoes. Place on glass or ceramic dinner plate, evenly spaced. Then microwave for 5 min to help the meat set. We don't want them to dissolve in the sauce. (Some people bake or brown before placing into sauce. We find that this adds a charred taste to the meatball, and the end result, esthetically, is not as appealing as an evenly cooked meatball).

3. Stir sauce before adding meatballs then reduce temperature to low. Carefully add meatballs with tongs, spacing them apart in the sauce, and making sure to cover them with the sauce.

4. Cover tomato sauce and cook on low for 5-8 hours, stirring every hour - the longer it simmers the better the taste. (If a crockpot is desired due to length of cooking time, cook in a pan to start then transfer to crockpot and cook on low. A crockpot does not offer adequate heat for sauteing, which is necessary for full-boddied flavor).Taste sauce for salt and heat 3 hours in. We prefer a sauce with heat - the pepper-flakes tends to burn off if enough isn't added (brand of tomatoes makes a difference on the taste retention). Adjust taste by adding more if desired.

5. Shut off heat 1 hour before serving. This sauce can be made a day or two in advance then heated for another 2 hours on the day needed. Freezes beautifully for several weeks, however meat may dry slightly.