Been trying to a) decrease my consumption of red meat (fuck you, cholesterol) and b) increase my consumption of soluble fiber (fuck you, cholesterol), so I’ve cobbled together some meatballs with oatmeal and where I can use various combinations of meat as situations demand.  Here is the basic recipe which I just made and which were really delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb meat (I used hot Italian style sausage made at my local grocery)
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 2 good sized shallots finely chopped
• 1 C oatmeal (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
• 2 eggs
• (one could add some Worcestershire or garlic if desired)
• 1½ t salt
• 1 t pepper
• 2 t cayenne

Directions:

• For oven baked, set oven to 375f; for pan fried prepare a cast iron skillet with oil
• Mix all the stuff in a bowl.
• Make balls from the mixture no larger than a golf ball.
• For oven, disperse balls over sheet (with or without parchment paper); or place gently into hot oil to shallow fry and brown evenly on various sides.
• Bake for 25 minutes; not sure how long to fry but you got this.

This is technically a double batch so one could cut everything in half and do a smaller batch.

Note that I used half ground turkey (chicken would substitute, of course).  I should be able to alter the primary meat (in this case hot Italian style sausage) to use lamb or beef (again using half turkey) with solid results.  I may try the lamb version this weekend.  We shall see.

Have fun!