Herby turkey meatballs with pearl barley, wild mushrooms, and burrata
Is anyone else still in comfort food mode? Maybe it’s the American in me, but meatballs always seem to tick my ‘cosy comfort’ box! This dish is easy to make and comes together using just one pan. Most of the cooking time is hands off so you can curl up with a book until dinner is ready to be served
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 500 g turkey thigh mince
- 40 g bread crumbs
- 75 g fresh grated parmesan
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 small shallot minced
- 4 g fresh dill chopped
- 4 g fresh parsley chopped
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp fresh black pepper
- 1 egg
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp olive oil for frying
For the mushrooms
- 400 g wild mushrooms roughly chopped
- 1 shallot minced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
- 30 g butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt & pepper
For the pearl barley
- 250 g pearl barley
- 1.2 l chicken stock
- 3 sprigs of of thyme
- salt and pepper
To serve
- 1 ball of burrata
- juice from 1 lemon
- extra fresh dill, parsley, and fresh black pepper
Instructions
- Place all of the meatball ingredients in a large bowl and mix with wet hands until ingredients are well distributed. Form the mixture into golf ball sized meatballs and set aside on a plate.
- Heat 30g butter and 1 tbsp olive oil in a large pot or skillet over medium heat. Add your mushrooms and 1 minced shallot with a pinch of salt and a couple grinds of fresh black pepper. Stir the mixture and allow it to cook for about 5 minutes before adding the minced garlic. Cook the garlic for another minute before transferring the mixture to a bowl and set it aside.
- Heat an additional tablespoon of oil in your pan. Place the meatballs in and allow them to cook undisturbed for 2-3 minutes before flipping to brown the other side for an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Add the stock and pearl barley to the pan with the thyme sprigs, a pinch of salt and a couple of grinds of black pepper. Nestle the meatballs between the barley and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the pan to a simmer and cover with a lid. Cook for 40 minutes but check half way through to see if you need to add any additional liquid – extra stock or water is fine.
- Once you’ve reached the 40 minutes, add the mushrooms back in to the pot and cook for 10 more minutes. This is also a good time to add any side vegetables you’d like to steam like tender stem broccoli.
- Remove the dish from from the heat, Squeeze in the juice from 1 lemon, and add the burrata to the pan. Serve evenly across 4 plates with additional chopped parsley, dill, and fresh black pepper.