Creamy Pesto Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 bag frozen turkey meatballs 1/2 ounce size (26 ounces – about 54 meatballs)
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
For the Sauce
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 8 ounces cream cheese cut into small cubes
- 1 1/2 cups milk – skim, 2%, whole, or half & half, or heavy cream
- 6 ounces grated parmesan cheese or parmesan/romano combination
- 1 cup basil pesto see notes
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place meatballs on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Bake according to package directions.
- While the meatballs are baking, make the sauce. Start by heating a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add butter and then the minced garlic. Stir and cook over medium heat until the garlic starts to soften.
- Add the cubed cream cheese to the pan. Stir with a whisk until the cheese starts to melt. Add milk, a little at a time, stirring with your whisk. Continue adding milk, and whisk until cream cheese is melted and all of the milk has been incorporated into the sauce.
- Whisk in the parmesan cheese and basil pesto. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Continue simmering and whisking until well combined and thickened. Combine sauce and meatballs. Serve with toothpicks.
- Notes: Basil pesto sauces vary as to the amounts of olive oil included and whether or not parmesan cheese has already been incorporated into the sauce. I used a homemade basil pesto which had no cheese added and about half of the olive oil typically seen in pesto recipes. You may need to adjust this recipe for your pesto sauce – ie., reduce the butter if your sauce contains a lot of olive oil; increase the garlic if your pesto is light on garlic, etc.
- More notes: This recipe makes a good amount of sauce. Extra sauce can be refrigerated and served with pasta.
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