Spaghetti w/ Turkey Lavender Meatballs

This sumptuous, creamy dish features one of my favourite ingredients: lavender! There is lavender in the turkey meatballs and lavender in the cream sauce. There is also sage, rosemary, basil and Parmesan cheese. And if you're one of those people that thinks lavender tastes soapy in savoury dishes just skip it or use it sparingly. Oh, and I don't measure things when I'm cooking so everything is to your own taste and sensibility.

Ingredients:

• Ground turkey (having too much is ok - make extra!)

• Cucumber

• garlic

• egg (optional)

• onion

• Parmesan Reggiano

• culinary lavender

• dried rosemary

• dried or fresh basil

• fresh sage

• cream

• white wine (optional)

• salt & pepper to taste

• spaghetti or any pasta you like

1. Chop all herbs finely. Use your preferred herbs. Sometimes I only use lavender but tonight I tried using some fresh sage and dried rosemary and basil and it was delightful. I put basil in everything but the star of this show is the lavender for me. Use as much or as little as you like. I also sometimes infuse the lavender into a cup of my cooking wine or into the cream that I'm going to use. Only do this if you're feeling extra.

2. Finely chop a quarter of a cucumber. The cucumber adds some moisture to the turkey meat since its fairly dry and lean. Mince your garlic and onion. I use the garlic and onion to give the cream sauce some extra flavor but you can add to the meatballs as well if you like.

3. Mix herbs, grated Parmesan, ground turkey, chopped cucumber and egg together in a bowl then form into little smaller-than-bite-size balls. I enjoy making them nice and small for this dish, easier to eat, they cook faster and you can make a lot more which is great for leftovers or serving a group of people.

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place turkey meatballs on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and drizzle with olive oil. Bake the meatballs for about 15 minutes, turning once. They don't take long to cook plus you will be cooking them some more in the sauce.

5. Meanwhile, fry up some garlic and onions in olive oil and add the same herb mix that you did to the meatballs. Yes, add lavender- it's so good in a cream sauce!

6. Add in the drippings from the meatballs and the meatballs themselves, fry for a moment or two, then de-glaze the pan with some white wine or, skipping this step, add some cream. Once the flavors start to come together boil your pasta (any pasta will be delicious) until it's al dente. Take some of your pasta water into your cream sauce, then add more parm (always add more parm- it adds flavor and helps to thicken the cream sauce). Put your pasta in the sauce and cook until all the flavors come together and the pasta is ready.

7. Garnish with crispy sage if you like (simply fry sage leaves in hot sizzling butter) and MORE Parmesan!!!

Enjoy