Resident nutritionist and super cook Jess, brings us her tasty take on Bolognese, featuring turkey meatballs twirled with spaghetti and courgetti.  An ideal dish for upcoming dinner parties now that lockdown restrictions have been lifted and we can enjoy meals outside in the British summertime! It is the perfect combination of filling and nutritious, yet leaves you feeling light and satiated. It also makes for a great leftover lunch the next day.

Serves 4

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

500g ground turkey mince

320g spaghetti (80g per person when served with courgetti)

350g Bolognese sauce (or homemade option*)

100g parmesan (vegan option: 3 tbs nutritional yeast)

50g oat flour (simply blend oats until fine in a high speed blender)

30g finely chopped parsley (+ extra for garnish)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp garlic powder (or 2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed)

1 tsp onion powder (or 1 medium onion, finely chopped)

1 medium egg

1 courgette, spiralised

½ tsp ground black pepper

½ tsp sea salt
 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. First make the turkey meatballs: in a large bowl combine the parmesan, garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper, oat flour and parsley.
3. Add the ground turkey and egg. Stir until all of the ingredients are mixed well.
4. Using a tablespoon, scoop out some of the mixture and roll into around 16 golf ball sized balls. Space them out evenly on a baking tray lined with parchment.
5. Drizzle the olive oil over the meatballs.
6. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, then rotate each meatball and continue to cook for another 15 minutes or until they are golden brown – you do not want them to be pink.
7. Set the turkey meatballs to one side and boil the spaghetti until cooked through.
8. In a large frying pan, simmer the Bolognese for 4-5 minutes, add in the cooked meatballs and simmer for another 2-3 minutes.
9. In a large bowl, combine the cooked spaghetti and courgetti and mix well, and then distribute between the serving bowls.
10. Top the pasta and courgetti with 3-4 meatballs per serving and finish off with grated parmesan and parsley, or any garnish of your choice.

 
 

 
* If you want to make your sauce from scratch, click here for a favourite easy Bolognese recipe.
 
For other summery dinner party recipes, try grilled salmon with herby couscous or prawn pesto pasta.