As someone who enjoys a delicious meal and of course spectacular wines, hosting friends for Meatball Monday seemed like the perfect excuse to enjoy some beautiful new Gary Farrell Blue label wines paired with my favorite new Turkey Meatball recipe (courtesy of the NY Times, find recipe here). See more of the Meatball Monday fun below!

I recently received my January allocation of Gary Farrell Wine’s Wine Club release which included this Toboni Vineyard Pinot Noir. This was the first time I tasted this wine and boy was it perfect to pair with yummy meatballs. The wine is quite earthy reminding me of a Burgundian Pinot Noir rather than a full-body, rich, jammy Russian River Pinot Noir (the bigger jammy style something I tend to gravitate towards and enjoy).  After giving the Pinot an hour or so to breathe (while i was cooking) it was incredible to see how much it opened up softening and really super drinkable with or without food. The first sip I would have suggested pairing this wine with food making it more approachable.

These are the items you’ll need for this NY Times Turkey Meatball recipe. It’s fairly simple and easy to make and for a recipe as delicious as it is, it doesn’t require too many ingredients.

• Ground Turkey (I use organic Ground Turkey)
• One onion
• One garlic clove
• Fresh chives
• 2 eggs
• Panka Bread crumbs
• Shredded parmesan cheese
• Spices: Oregano, black pepper & sea salt
• Optional: A bottle of wine for the chef to enjoy while cooking 🙂 I suggest a Pinot Noir such as the Gary Farrell Pinot Noir I enjoyed. May as well open it while you cook since you’ll want to pair dinner with a Pinot Noir.

Step 1: Pour yourself a glass of wine

Step 2: Dice the onion then add to the Meatball blend

Step 3: Mix the cheese, bread crumbs and onions into a bowl.

Step 4: Cut some fresh chives to be blended into the Meatball Mix

Step 5: Dice some fresh garlic and saute it (this was a special addition I made to the recipe) as I LOVE garlic.

Step 6: Add the sauteed garlic into your ground turkey mix.  Don’t forget to pour yourself a glass of wine as you’re cooking. I am enjoying a glass of Gary Farrell Winery’s T0boni Pinot Noir (shop online here)

Step 7: Add the diced chives, then mix one egg into your bread crumb mix.

Step 8: Mix everything together in the bread crumb bowl.

Step 9: Add the meat (which has been chilling in your fridge until now). I suggest getting your hands in the mix (rather than just using a spatula) I would get your hands in there to really blend it all together.

step 10: Create small rounded balls.

Step 11: Take a wine break, always important to sip as you cook and enjoy yourself. This is meant to be FUN not just hard work!

Step 12: Add the olive oil to the pan then add the rounded turkey meatballs into the pan to cook for approx 5-6 minutes rotating the balls every minute or so to get all sides cooked.

Step 13: Cook the turkey balls and rotate them every minute or so ensuring they get cooked evenly.

Step 14: After the meatballs are cooked, add marinara sauce and simmer on low for another 15-20 minutes.

Step 15: Serve the meatballs with a bottle of Pinot Noir. I suggest the Gary Farrell Wines Tiboni Pinot Noir which is earthy and more Burgundian in style which makes it a perfect food pairing wine.