Caramelized Zucchini & Corn Turkey Meatballs
This week on "Can it meatball?"
Shred the zucchini. Add salt and let sit until you start to see water seep out. Squeeze the zucchini in a clean cloth or just with your hands to get all the water out. This is important so your zucchini caramlizes correctly.
Once all the water has been squeezed out, add the zucchini to a hot pan with oil to caramlize. Keep stirring, don't let it stick. If it is sticking, add a splash of water to release. You want to zucchini to form almost a paste. The process should take about 5 minutes, but if you see that there is still water coming out of the zucchini, keep cooking. Take out zucchini when done and set aside.
Cut the kernels off of ear of corn and add to the pan. Let them take on some color - this is just to "wake up" the corn. It is going to cook fully in the meatballs. Cook and stir for about 3-5 minutes. Take out and set aside.
Prep the rest of your ingredients: Thinly slice the green onion. Finely chop the parsley. Grate the parmesean.
Add zucchini, corn, parmesean, parsley, green onion, and breadcumbs to a bowl. Season with salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. Mix well. We do this now because we don't want to overmix the ground turkey, so make sure everything is well incorporated now.
Once well combined, crack one egg and break the yolk. Mix a bit with the ingredients already in the bowl.
Add the ground turkey. With your hand, combine the entire mixture well and knead it. If it feels too wet, add some more breadcrumbs until it can form one cohesive ball.
Take a small piece and cook it in a pan to taste for seasoning. Adjust the seasoning accordingly (it will likely need more salt). These meatballs also don't have any acidity so you can add some lemon juice here if you want, or plan to eat them with a fresh or lemony dressing.
If the seasoning is right, begin to roll your meatballs into golf size pieces (or whatever size you like).
Place them in a hot pan with oil. Make sure they are not touching each other, as that will make them steam. Pan sear them for 4 minutes, then flip. Once flipped, you can let them finish in the pan (keep flipping them so they don't burn).
If your meatballs are thicker, you may want to finish them in a 350F oven so the inside cooks without the direct heat of the burner. They should need about 10 minutes in the oven, but take out your biggest meatball and cut it open to check for done-ness. If it's firm and spongey, with no pink in the center, they are done.