Slow cooker turkey meatballs

There’s nothing quite like tucking into a scrumptious slow cooker meal on a cold winter’s night and this recipe will certainly do the trick. Rather than frying your meatballs in the pan or baking them in the oven, this recipe cooks them over low, slow heat for five hours to create the most mouth-watering and delicious meatballs we’ve ever tried.

Instead of the traditional beef, try using turkey mince for a lighter, less fatty meal. You can serve the meatballs with pasta, or try dishing them up with a simple side of crusty sourdough bread with plenty of butter. Any leftovers can be reheated the next day – they often taste even better! – or packed in a picnic for a lovely day out.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, finely diced
• 2 celery sticks, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 500g carton tomato passata
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• For the meatballs
• 400g lean mince turkey
• 4 tbsp porridge oats
• pinch paprika
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• spray of oil

Method

1. Heat oil in a non-stick fry pan over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Gently fry for 1 minute. Pour in passata and parsley. Stir well. Transfer mixture to slow cooker.
2. Pour mince into a large bowl. Add oats, paprika, garlic and a generous amount of black pepper. Mix together with hands. Divide mixture and roll into about 20 evenly sized balls.
3. Heat oil in the non-stick pan. Cook meatballs until they begin to brown. Remove from pan and add to tomato base in slow cooker. Cook on low for 5 hours. Serve hot.