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Cacciatore Stoup with Turkey Sausage Meatballs

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

  • 2 portabello mushroom caps, wiped clean, then chopped into bite-size cubes

  • 2 cubanelle peppers (light green, mild Italian peppers), seeded and chopped into bite-size pieces

  • 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped into bite-size pieces

  • 1 large onion, chopped into bite-size pieces

  • 1/2-1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, depending on how spicy you like your food

  • Coarse salt and black pepper

  • 3 slices white bread

  • 1/2 cup milk

  • 1 pound ground turkey breast

  • 1 egg

  • 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Romano cheese (a couple of handfuls), plus some to pass at table

  • A handful of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

  • 2 cloves finely chopped garlic

  • 1 can San Marzano tomatoes or whole plum canned tomatoes of choice (28 ounces)

  • 1 quart chicken stock

  • Crusty whole grain bread, to pass at table

Directions

Heat the EVOO in a Dutch oven or soup pot over medium-high heat. Add portabello mushrooms, peppers and onion and cook until tender, 7-8 minutes. Season the vegetables with crushed red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper.

While vegetables cook, rip up bread and soak with milk in a mixing bowl for 5 minutes. Add turkey to the bowl, followed by the egg, cheese, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix to combine.

Add tomatoes to the pot and break up with a wooden spoon. Stir in the stock and raise heat to bring to a boil. When the stoup boils, form 2-inch meatballs with the turkey mixture and drop into stoup. Cover the pot, reduce heat and simmer the balls in the stoup for 10-12 minutes.

Serve in shallow bowls with crusty whole grain bread for mopping and extra cheese for topping.

This is one of many "Yum-o!" recipes – it's good and good for you. To find out more about Yum-o!, Rachael's nonprofit organization, go to www.yum-o.org.