Creamy Tuscan Orzo with Turkey Meatballs

Today I wanted to share with you guys an easy and delicious dinner recipe that we have been absolutely loving at home. And I’ll be making my creamy Tuscan orzo with turkey meatballs. This dish comes together so quickly and easily and the flavors, the aroma is just mouth-watering.

Why You’ll Love This

That orzo is super creamy and delicious.

You have super juicy meatballs and everything combined together is just incredible.

You guys are going to love this dish from the very first bite.

This dish never gets old.

And the first thing I have in my mind when I take that first bite is, wow, the flavors here are incredible.

It is such a rich and creamy dish.

I love the texture.

That creamy orzo pasta with the sun-dried tomatoes and a little bit of that white wine balances out the richness from the cream and the meatballs.

Oh, my goodness.

So incredibly juicy, tender, flavorful.

You guys are going to love this dish.

It’s so combined together.

You can’t ask for a better dinner.

I am definitely going to be coming back for seconds.

Ingredients

• ground turkey
• ground black pepper
• one teaspoon of sea salt
• one teaspoon of dried garlic
• one teaspoon of dried basil
• one teaspoon of dried oregano
• a tablespoon of fresh rosemary, or you can use a teaspoon of dried rosemary
• a tablespoon of fresh thyme
• one egg
• one grated medium-sized onion
• a third cup of panko breadcrumbs
• cooking oil
• a tablespoon of butter
• two large diced shallots
• six minced garlic cloves
• one-third cup of sun-dried tomatoes and oil
• approximately three to four cups of baby spinach
• about half a cup of white wine
• One tablespoon of fresh thyme
• A tablespoon of fresh rosemary
• One teaspoon of dried basil
• One teaspoon of dried oregano
• Ground black pepper
• one cup of orzo pasta
• one teaspoon of sea salt
• one cup of chicken broth
• One and a half cups of cream
• One cup of grated Parmesan cheese
• a little bit of fresh parsley

Instructions

1. Start with the meatballs.
2. Place ground turkey into a large mixing bowl.
3. Season this with ground black pepper, one teaspoon of sea salt, one teaspoon of dried garlic, one teaspoon of dried basil, one teaspoon of dried oregano, a tablespoon of fresh rosemary, or you can use a teaspoon of dried rosemary, and a tablespoon of fresh thyme.
4. Drop in one egg.
5. Drop in one grated medium-sized onion.
6. Drop in a third cup of panko breadcrumbs.
7. Use your hands to mix everything together until you have a uniform meatball mixture.
8. To shape our meatballs, use a one-tablespoon measuring scoop.
9. Measure out the meatball mixture.
10. Drop it onto a platter or a cutting board.
11. Grease your hands with a little bit of cooking oil.
12. Next, preheat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat.
13. Drizzle in some cooking oil.
14. Once it’s nice and hot, fry the meatballs in batches.
15. Allowing the meatballs to get a nice golden brown color.
16. Once they get lightly browned on one side, go ahead and flip them over and then just kind of roll and fry until they’re golden brown all over.
17. Take the meatballs out of the frying pan and onto a clean tray.
18. Set these aside.
19. Into the same pan, add in a tablespoon of butter.
20. Once that butter is melted, add in two large diced shallots.
21. Saute these for a few minutes until they’re softened.
22. Add in six minced garlic cloves.
23. Add in one-third cup of sun-dried tomatoes and oil.
24. Add in approximately three to four cups of baby spinach.
25. Pour in about half a cup of white wine.
26. Allow the white wine to reduce and wilt the spinach at the same time.
27. Let this cook for about three to five minutes.
28. Start adding in our seasonings: One tablespoon of fresh thyme, A tablespoon of fresh rosemary, One teaspoon of dried basil, One teaspoon of dried oregano, Ground black pepper.
29. Once our wine is nicely reduced, add in one cup of orzo pasta.
30. Mix that in with all these goodies.
31. Add one teaspoon of sea salt.
32. Give that a quick stir.
33. Pour in one cup of chicken broth.
34. Pour in One and a half cups of cream.
35. Pour in One cup of grated Parmesan cheese.
36. Add a little bit of fresh parsley.
37. Return our turkey meatballs back into the pan.
38. Settle them right on top of this creamy mixture.
39. Keep the pan temperature at a medium.
40. Close this with a tight-fitting lid.
41. Let this cook away for about 18 to 20 minutes or until that orzo pasta is cooked to al dente.
42. Give it a stir, kind of reincorporate some of the sauce back into the orzo.
43. Stir the meatballs in there as well so they’re nicely coated.
44. Dig in to enjoy.

Cooking Tips

You can also use ground chicken for this recipe.

You can also pulse this through a food processor.

I use just a regular cheese grater.

I like to wrap my cutting board in some plastic wrap. Just makes for easier cleanup at the end.

And then adding the grated onion into the mixture makes the meatballs super juicy. This is my trick to making the best meatballs.

To shape the meatballs, I first like to grease my hands with a little bit of cooking oil.

This way, the meat doesn’t stick to your hands quite as easily and get nicely shaped meatballs.

You don’t want to overcrowd the pan, allowing the meatballs to get a nice golden brown color.

At this point, we don’t need them to be fully cooked on the inside.

They’ll finish cooking with the orzo.

I just patted some of the excess oil off the tomatoes and then chopped them into small pieces.

You should have a really rich, creamy mixture once that pasta is cooked.

This will also allow the turkey meatballs to finish cooking.

Serving Suggestions

And then we can dig in to enjoy.

Let’s dig in to enjoy.

I love this dish. I’ve been making this weekly for quite a while.

I just can’t get enough of all the flavors here.

I hope you guys enjoy this dinner dish as much as I do.

And I’ll see you next time with a new recipe.