Meaty Eyeballs on a Bed of Guts

Happy Halloween!!  I wanted to make a fun, gross-out dinner tonight, so we had these eyeball meatballs on a bed of large, hollow pasta (guts), with pasta sauce (blood).  This was a huge hit with the kids, although one preferred his without blood. 

For the meatballs, I used my fave meatball recipe, Fast & Friendly Meatballs, from Allrecipes.  Google Meatball Eyeballs and you'll find different versions and pictures of these everywhere.  After I formed each meatball, I stuck a pimento-stuffed green olive into each one.  Make sure you get it kind of deep in there, or it'll pop out during cooking.  If you're not intrested in the gross-out version of these meatballs, I still encourage you to try the meatball recipe without the olives, because it is really good, and so easy. 

I only had a 16 oz. package of ground turkey on hand, so I used that, along with one egg, and a heaping 1/4 cup of Italian bread crumbs.  It worked out wonderfully, and it made exactly 12 meatballs that fit in my 9x13 glass baking dish.  I used my cookie scoop to scoop the meat mixture, and perfected the ball by shaping it with my hands. 

Fave Meatballs, or Meaty Eyeballs
adapted from Allrecipes

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (20 ounce) package ground turkey
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
12-18 green olives stuffed with pimentos, if making Meaty Eyeballs

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with the olive oil, and place it in the oven while preheating.

2.In a medium bowl, mix together the ground turkey, egg, and bread crumbs using a large spoon or your hands. Using an ice cream scoop if possible, form the meat into golf ball sized meatballs. If making Meaty Eyeballs, insert one green olive into each meatball now.  Place about 1 inch apart in the hot baking dish. Press down to flatten the bottom just slightly.

3.Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then turn them over, and continue baking for about 5 more minutes, or until somewhat crispy on the outside. Serve with pasta and sauce or however you'd like.

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