Italian Meatballs and Orzo

     I found this one after searching through our cookbooks until something sounded good that fit our inventory. We had a zucchini that needed to be used, and I wanted to find a reason to get rid of the ground turkey. Heather  was out of town last week and came back wanting fresh fruits and vegetables. It sounded good to me.
     I normally shy away from recipes that have too many ingredients - the simpler the better. So, I apologize for my hypocrisy in advance, but it is a one-dish meal after all. Of course, the meatballs contain ingredients that may be left out for simplicity's sake. In the end, it turned out to be a keeper.
     Let me note something before we begin. I made the meatballs exactly to the recipe below, but I only used half of them. The rest went into the freezer for later. If you're feeding two, you will want to do the same. If you want to feed 4 or 5, use all the meatballs and double the pasta and vegetables.

Turkey Meatballs
1 lb. ground turkey (beef and/or pork if your wife will let you)
1 egg, well beaten
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 c. sweet onion, chopped
1/4 c. grated Romano cheese
2 t. dried oregano
1 t. dried parsley
2 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1/2 c. bread crumbs
1/3 c. water

Orzo and Vegetables
2 c. beef stock
1 c. orzo
2 c. canned Italian tomatoes, hand-crushed
1 medium zucchini, cubed
1/2 c. green peas, thawed

Toppings
sliced tomatoes
grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
fresh cut basil

     Start by prepping the meatballs. Mix all the ingredients for the meatballs by hand until well-blended being careful not to overwork the mixture. Heather wanted them kept small, so I used a heaping teaspoon as a guide to keeping them uniform in size. You can make them to the size you desire. Spread the meatballs out onto a sheet pan and place them in the freezer to firm up a bit.

     Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in your pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, drop in the meatballs in batches. Again, I only used half of the recipe. When you get a good sear on all sides, remove them to a separate sheet pan. Place them in a 350-degree oven for about 8 minutes. Set them aside.

     Remove any excess oil from the pan and return to medium heat. Pour in the beef stock. When it reaches a boil, add in the orzo and meatballs and reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 5-8 minutes.
     Stir in the tomatoes, zucchini, and peas. Cook for 6-10 minutes, pausing halfway through to top with grated cheese. At the end of the cooking time, top with the sliced tomatoes and fresh basil.

Enjoy.