I love tart and tangy flavours and when I was first introduced to chimmichurri as a sauce for steak, I fell in love. It (stupidly) took me a while to realise that the sauce was not exclusively a dressing for steak but went well with many grilled meats. Later I realised you could put it on virtually anything. And so, when I don’t want Swedish meatballs with cream sauce and lingonberry jam, I make this mush mash of turkey meatballs with mash – a leaner, zinger, but just as tasty meal for lunch or dinner.

Turkey meatballs with mash, quick cucumber pickle and chimmichurri

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 400g turkey breast mince
• 1 egg
• 1dl breadcrumbs soaked in milk
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 tsp garlic granules
• 1 tsp onion granules

Chimmichurri

• 4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped

Quick pickles

• 1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
• 1 dl white wine vinegar

Method

1. Boil potatoes for mash (make them how you like them)
2. Put the cucumbers in a small bowl with mustard seeds and a bit of salt, then cover with vinegar and set aside.
3. For the chimmichurri, chop the ingredients and place in a bowl and then mix in olive oil and vinegar. I prefer it a bit tarter, so usually add more vinegar, but do it to your tastes – there’s no right or wrong!
4. In a medium bowl mix all of the meatball ingredients together.
5. Form mix into slightly smaller than golfball size balls.
6. Fry in some oil (being careful not to crowd the pan which mean mean two batches) until golden, flopping as necessary. I tend to do this on medium or medium to low heat as you want a nice colour but you don’t want to get them too crispy before they’re cooked through.
7. Serve as you like, but I like a bed of mash with the meatballs on the side and everything covered in pickles and chimmichurri.