Turkey and Spicy Sausage Meatballs

I love a good meatball!!! These were a concoction I came up with few weeks ago. I wanted to do something with ground turkey instead of the typical pork, veal and beef. I took tips and ideas from my mom, Tyler and Ina and came up with this TO DIE FOR meatball recipe. If you don't like hands-on cooking then this is not the recipe for you! These are phenomenal meatballs that you'll want to add to your recipe box.

Ingredients
Makes about 20 meatballs
2-3 tablespoons ricotta cheese
2.5 cups Italian bread, cubed
Milk
1.25 lb Jennie O Italian Seasoned Ground Turkey
1 lb Hot and Spicy Italian Sausage
1/2 c Parmesan, plus additional for serving
1 large egg
2 tablespoon Parsley
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Pepper
Fresh Basil Leaves
Optional- Mozzarella Cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Start by placing cubed bread in bowl and soaking in milk. While bread is soaking combine turkey, sausage, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, parsley, and red pepper flakes in large mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Be generous with the S&P, at least a teaspoon of each. Remove soaked bread and transfer to mixing bowl with all the other ingredients. Be sure to squeeze out any excess milk. DO NOT PUT ANY EXCESS MILK IN MIXING BOWL. Begin mixing ingredients with your hands until thoroughly combined. (I suggest you take off your rings:) When ingredients are well combined, shape into balls. You should have about 18-22 balls depending on how large or small you make them. I froze 12 of them and baked 8 meatballs. Line balls on lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and another sprinkling of salt and pepper. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through. When meatballs are finished baking remove from oven and top with slices of mozzerella and fresh basil leaves. Serve with Marinara and Spaghetti. Top with Parmesan.

Tip: This recipe sure makes a ton of meatballs. You can usually count of people having 2-3 meatballs if they are pretty hungry. If you are cooking for 4 people or less I suggest freezing a part of this recipes. I froze 12 of the meatballs. This is a great recipe to make ahead and have ready in your freezer to defrost and bake when you are short on time but are craving something spectacular! When I freeze anything I make a note of it on an index card on the side of the freezer, so I am not guessing or missing out on what's ready to go in there. I have cookie dough, meatballs, marinara sauce, chicken stock, pot pie, and chicken carcasses ready to go in the freezer right now!