I’m sorry I’ve been MIA most of the summer, y’all. Moving across the country and starting a new job made me a little crazy, and I feel like I haven’t had enough time to breathe. But I did finally cook something delicious recently, so I wanted to share it with you! And I promise I will try to post a lot more soon.

Anyway, as I’m sure I’ve told you 100 times before, spaghetti with quick homemade marinara was my go-to dinner when I lived alone. But when you live with a protein monster, pasta with tomato sauce doesn’t really cut it. This meal was a way to add some vegetables to our life, without skimping on the protein.

You’ll need a mandolin, spiralizer or julienne peeler to make zucchini noodles that look like spaghetti, but you can use a regular vegetable peeler, too. Cut them as thick or thin as you’d like, in any shape you prefer. The first time I used my spiralizer, I accidentally made curls that looked more like ruffles than spaghetti, but they tasted great anyway.

I used oats in the meatballs to keep them gluten free, but you can use breadcrumbs if you’d prefer. I also added kale to the marinara for some extra veggie power, but if you blend the sauce after cooking it, you won’t really notice it. Feel free to simmer the sauce as long as you’d like, and/or to double the sauce recipe and freeze half. Buon appetito! 

Zucchini noodles with kale marinara and turkey meatballs (serves 4)
Noodles and sauce
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes (San Marzano are best!)
1 tablespoon olive oil + more for sauteeing noodles
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (or 1/4 tsp each of oregano, basil, rosemary and thyme)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1-2 cups kale leaves, rinsed and torn
5 zucchini
Parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)

Meatballs
1 package (about a pound) ground turkey (get Italian-seasoned if they have it!)
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (or mix of oregano, basil, rosemary and thyme — omit if using pre-seasoned turkey)
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
1/4 cup rolled oats, processed for a few seconds in a food processor (or panko breadcrumbs)

First, start the sauce: Pour the contents of the tomato can into a blender and pulse until it’s smooth (or chunky, if that’s what you like). Pour about 1 tablespoon olive oil into a large heavy saucepan and turn the heat to low-medium. Crush the garlic clove and add that to the pan, along with the seasonings. Allow garlic to brown for about a minute, then add the blended tomatoes. Let the sauce simmer, stirring occasionally, for at least 10 minutes (while you start the meatballs), then add the kale. Cook the kale in the sauce for at least another 10 minutes, then (carefully) pour the sauce back into the blender and blend until the texture is to your liking. Return the sauce to the pan and turn the heat on low.

For meatballs: Preheat oven to 350 and set out a baking sheet. Crush the garlic clove and add it, along with all the other ingredients, to a large bowl. Use your (clean!) hands to mix up the ingredients, then form the mixture into meatballs and place them on the baking sheet. Bake the meatballs about 15 minutes, or until just cooked through, then add them to the sauce. Increase the temperature to low-medium and allow everything to mingle while you make the zucchini noodles.

For noodles: Rinse the zucchini, then use a spiralizer, mandolin or vegetable peeler to cut noodle shapes. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a clean skillet or saucepan, heat it to medium, and saute the noodles for about two minutes. If you’d like, you can also spoon some of the sauce into the pan to coat the noodles.

Once the zucchini noodles are tender, place them in bowls and top with sauce, meatballs and parmesan cheese. Enjoy immediately.