Zucchini Turkey Meatballs with Zucchini Basil Pesto on Rice Pasta

I must admit that I am so proud of these recipes!  They turned out wonderfully.  And Eyla ate 3 bowls full!!!  Zucchini is in season right now and I love to incorporate in dishes where ever I can.  I find that it is a really good vegetable to hide, if you are trying to get veggies in to a picky toddlers diet.

Zucchini Turkey Meatballs

1 package of ground turkey

2 zucchini grated with the smallest holes on the grater

1 teaspoon granulated onion

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 tsp arrowroot powder

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Place all ingredients into a large bowl and mix well.  Place olive oil into frying pan once heated.  Roll turkey mixture into equally sized balls and place in frying pan.  Leave for until browned then turn over.  Quite a bit of liquid comes out from the zucchini so it is best to leave them uncovered until the liquid cooked away.  Then cover and cook until turkey is cooked through.

Zucchini Basil Pesto

Pesto is a wonderful thing, you can make it really with whatever you have on had and however you want really there are no rules with pesto! So our recipe is really a guide, because i did not measure.

1 cup chopped basil

1 zucchini chopped

juice from one lemon

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

olive oil

salt and pepper

place sunflower seeds in dry pan to toast (to add more flavour).  While that is toasting add garlic to food processor and pulse a couple of times.  Then add the basil, zucchini and sunflower seeds, lemon juice and 2 glugs of olive oil, season with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Pulse until smooth, you may find that you need to add more oil, or water if it is too thick.  Should come out smooth and creamy textured.

We served ours on spinach rice pasta, and it was a perfect match!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.