Meatball Monday is a “thing” at our house. I don’t do it every Monday, but I do it regularly enough that I like to try to change things up so as to avoid a meatball slump.

In an effort to be mindful of our health, I try to use leaner meats for meatballs and stay away from beef, delicious as it is. This time, I did a combination of ground turkey and ground pork, and with the addition of a little goat cheese and some flavorful ingredients, some really tasty meatballs were born — with a fraction of the fat and calories.

I wanted to do these meatballs “tapas” style, which means a Spanish twist and served sans pasta, called “albondigas” in Spain. They are a treat unto themselves and not just a sideshow to spaghetti.

Simmering them in a rich sauce only adds depth to meatballs, and this sauce brings a lot of flavor to the party. Saltiness from olives and freshness from grape tomatoes makes this a nice departure from a traditional marinara-soaked meatball.

Albondigas
For the meatballs

1 lb ground turkey
1 lb ground pork (as lean as you can get)
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons goat cheese, crumbled
Cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
2 cloves garlic, minced
Chopped flat leaf parsley, about 1/4 cup

For the sauce

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup sliced olives (I used black for this but green Spanish olives would be nice too)
1 can petite diced tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cracked black pepper

Mix all the meat ingredients together with your hands until thoroughly incorporated. Form into balls about the size of a golf ball.

Meanwhile, start your sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven and drop in the garlic to begin sauteeing. Add the fresh and canned tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients, put the lid on, and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.

For the meatballs, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan (I use cast iron) and brown them on all sides thoroughly. As they finish browning, drop them in the sauce to simmer and continue to cook through. Put the lid on and simmer for 20 minutes.

Serve with good bread, Spanish green beans and a glass of sangria!