I took my handy Dinner at Home cookbook (Martha’s newest release) to the kitchen and was all set to make Turkey and Pancetta Meatballs. I had defrosted some ground turkey and was ready to roll. But then I had another Martha-resistance moment. This also happened not too long ago when I bailed on Martha’s beef stew recipe. Apparently I haven’t fully recuperated, because I just could not bring myself to make this meatball recipe. What’s the problem, you’re wondering? The recipe was fairly harmless – onion, garlic, bread crumbs, sage, egg, lemon zest and salt and pepper. Not exactly how I would make them, but not awful. Except for one additional ingredient. Pancetta. Now when I selected this recipe, it sounded like a good flavor combo. The pancetta would liven up the meatballs. But then I read the recipe and I couldn’t do it. You stir in your uncooked pancetta into the turkey. Gag.  All I could imagine was pieces of flabby, fatty, mushy pancetta inside the meatballs. Here’s the thing – I like my bacon and pancetta cooked – really cooked. I cannot eat shrimp or scallops that are wrapped in bacon because while the bacon may not be raw, it is fatty and mushy and just unthinkable to me.

I considered cooking the pancetta first, but the idea of crunchy pieces of pancetta in my meatballs was not appealing either. So I bailed on the pancetta. I whipped up the meatballs the way I usually do – onion, garlic, breadcrumbs, Worchestershire sauce, egg,  Italian herb mix, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese. Then I got to thinking that maybe I could do something Martha with this recipe. I’ve regretted not trying Chicken and Ricotta Meatballs from Sept Everyday Food, so I dumped in some ricotta.

I always bake my meatballs in the oven. I served this with spaghetti sauce (jarred – sorry Martha) and Dreamfield’s spaghetti. The meatballs were good, but I didn’t notice anything different I could attribute to the ricotta. I have to say I am just not loving ricotta. I used to hate, hate, hate it. Now I’ve learned it is not toxic, but I just find it has no flavor and does nothing for me.