Some tahini brands add salt, but many don’t. Check the label. The tomatoes need to cook for up to 90 minutes, so don’t wait til you’re hungry to start this recipe. (You can make the tomatoes several days in advance and keep them in the fridge—and if in the meantime you change your mind about serving them with meatballs, put them on a sandwich or in a bowl of pasta.) These meatballs would be great with a salad of cubed cucumber, shallot, and parsley. Recipe serves four people, with leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
This recipe is from Tucker Shaw’s piece, “Turns Out Not Eating Salt Is Not the End of the World.”
PrintNo-Salt Turkey Meatballs with Roasted Tomatoes and Tahini
Prevent your screen from going dark
Makes 4 servings 1x
Time about 30 minutes active time, plus about 90 minutes unattended
Ingredients
For the tomatoes:
- 2 pounds plum tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- 2–3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
For the meatballs:
- 2 pounds ground dark meat turkey
- 1/2 cup unsalted matzo meal
- 1 large egg plus one yolk
- 1 cup chopped parsley
- Zest from 1 lemon
- Cracked black pepper
For the tahini:
- 1/2 cup tahini paste
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Juice from half a lemon, plus more if needed
Instructions
- Prepare the tomatoes: Heat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut tomatoes into quarters, lengthwise, and remove pulp and seeds. Toss tomatoes with olive oil, sugar, and cayenne. Spread over baking sheet in a single layer and bake until they’re dried out and have begun to darken, about 60-90 minutes. Let cool on the sheet then remove to a bowl (some may stick to the parchment). Toss with fresh thyme and set aside.
- Increase oven temperature to 425°F. In a large bowl, use your hands to mix together turkey, matzo meal, egg and yolk, parsley, lemon zest, and pepper. Roll into 24 meatballs. Don’t pack them too tight, or they’ll be tough. Arrange meatballs, evenly spaced, on sheet pan and bake until browned and cooked through, about 25 minutes.
- While meatballs cook, whisk together tahini, yogurt, olive oil, and lemon juice. If consistency is too thick, whisk in a drizzle or two more olive oil. If you want more zing, add a bit more lemon juice. Serve meatballs with tomatoes on the side, and tahini drizzled with abandon. If you’ve got some more parsley around, throw that over the top, too.
— Recipe developed by Tucker Shaw