Chronicles of an Accidental Gourmet: The Imperfect Italian

Despite my bad introduction to Italian cuisine via White Hen Pantry Pizza, I have developed an affectionate relationship with Italian food over the years. In lieu of pizza I developed a strong bond with the pasta family. My favorite pasta dish was the shrimp fettucine at Rudi Fazuli's, a wonderful Italian restaurant that was a ten minute walk from our Chicago home in the Lakeview area. We used to eat there once in a while only, because the food was so good that you had to waddle out of the restaurant, stuffed to the gills. Then, other people got to know about this great little restaurant and Rudi Fazuli's moved down to the ritzy Lincoln Park neighborhood where I know not whether it still lives and thrives. Anyway, the awesome experience with Rudi Fazuli's convinced me not to give up on Italian food, that like all cuisines, it was about the cook, the spices and the location.
After I had children, I was really glad that I had given Italian cuisine a second chance, because what khichdi (a separate post on that later) is to Indian children, well, pasta is to American children. Pasta and meatballs, in particular. Not being a beefeater for cultural reasons, I have created my own version of Italian meatballs, using ground turkey. I call these my Imperfect Italian Meatballs because try as I might, they refuse to keep the cheese inside them (or maybe I'm just too lazy to get them perfect). Here is what you need:



1 lb ground turkey (not turkey breast)
1 small or medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium zucchini, grated
1/4 cup feta cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil plus one more for oiling the cookie sheet
1 tablespoon Montreal Steak Seasoning
Zest of one lemon
Juice of one lemon
Fresh mozarella balls in water or oil (use small balls of cheese or chop large into smaller pieces)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley or 1 tbsp dried parsley

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line cookie sheet or baking tray with aluminum foil (that's aluminium to Indians). Grease covered sheet with 1 tablespoon olive oil. In a large mixing bowl, combine ground turkey, chopped onion, garlic, grated zucchini, feta cheese, 2 tablespoons olive oil, Montreal Steak Seasoning, lemon zest, lemon juice and parsley. You shouldn't need salt after all the feta cheese and steak seasoning, but if you do, well go ahead and add a pinch. Mix well, but go easy on the meat. Roll a piece of mixture between your hands to make a small ball. Make a dent on the top. Insert a small mozarella ball. Cover dent with more mixture and roll to smooth it. Place meatball on prepared cookie sheet. Repeat till you have about 12-14 meatballs. Put the sheet into hot oven for 40 minutes. Check at 30 minutes for doneness as oven temperatures vary. You can also mix some chopped assorted vegetables (red peppers, zucchini, carrots, etc) with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast alongside meatballs as a side dish.

While meatballs are cooking, put water into pot to boil. Prepare linguini according to package directions. Drain, put spaghetti back into dish and coat with a splash of olive oil if desired. Open and heat your favorite prepared marinara sauce (what? You think I'm going to make everything from scratch?). My choice: Trader Joe's marinara.

When done, meatballs are golden brown and deliciously imperfect because some will have mozarella oozing out of them. Here is what they look like: