Full question
Can the Meatballs With Orzo recipe be made with ground turkey instead of beef for the meatballs? Would love to make this sometime but my mother doesn't eat beef..
Our answer
Nigella's Meatballs With Orzo (from AT MY TABLE) is a one-pot meal made with orzo pasta. This pasta cooks easily, so can be added to the pot of simmering meatballs so that it cooks directly in the sauce.
The meatballs are made with beef mince (ground beef). It would be possible to swap in turkey for the beef but you need to make sure that you use turkey mince (ground turkey) that is a mixture of thigh and breast, or all thigh. Turkey breast usually has a fat content of less than 3% and could lead to the meatballs being a bit too dry and crumbly. Turkey thigh, or a thigh and breast mixture, will usually have a fat content of 6-8%, which will make the meatballs a little moister and also in our opinion has a better flavour. You could also use pork mince (ground pork) as an alternative and we would suggest using pork mince with a fat content of around 10%.
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