Italian Turkey Meatballs

I saw the crockpot version of these on Skinnytaste.com. I totally intended to make them for a nice homey Friday night dinner after a busy week.  I had great intentions.  Then i woke up and walked out the door Friday without even thinking about it, and had a long day at work.  By the time I got home at 7 I felt lazy, but summoned my inner strength and cooked these bad boys up based on her stovetop directions while David enjoyed the Pitt game (yet another loss :( ).

Ingredients
Meatballs:
1 Package ground turkey (99% lean)
handful Italian Breadcrumbs
handful grated parmesan cheese
1 egg
3 garlic cloves smashed and minced
salt and pepper to taste


Sauce:
1 can tutturosa crushed tomatoes with basil(28 oz)
1 can diced tomatoes (14 oz)
5-6 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
Olive oil
oregano, salt, and pepper to taste (you know me, i don't measure)
a handful of fresh basil, chopped

Directions
I started with the sauce -- sauteeing the garlic in a little olive oil in the bottom of our pan I carried home from the honeymoon (its really heavy and heats up way to fast and easily, as I remember every time I use it).  Once the garlic was slightly browned I added the remaining sauce ingredients and turned it to as low as it goes to simmer while I made the meatballs.

I pretty much combined all the ingredients and mixed them up pretty well.  I formed them into smallish meatballs, aiming for about golf ball sized.  Once completed I added them directly to the sauce and gave it a gentle stir, covered with foil (the pan lacks a lid) and cooked for about 20 minute until cooked thoroughly.

Verdict
These were pretty good.  I was able to go from start to finish, including picking the basil from the garden, in about 40 minutes.  I think next time i would spray the meatballs with some olive oil and let them bake for a few minutes to get crispy on the outside before putting them into the sauce.  I had my doubts on putting them directly into the sauce, but it cooked through and worked.  David seemed to enjoy them despite the healthy factor.  The only other issue was that by using the pot without a lid the sauce was a little too clumpy for me.  Next time I'll use a different pan so less moisture boils off and possibly use two cans of crushed tomatoes instead of a crushed and a diced.