Chicken Parm Meatballs and Spaghetti

This was one of those last minute dinners. With the internet, blog lists and a cookbook addiction there are a million places to get recipes. Not to mention magazines. Still getting those, too. So I don't lack for ideas, just that I am better at procrastinating. I'll cook tomorrow. We'll order in today. Then the mail came and I got the October issue of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food and I knew there would be no procrastinating about cooking dinner. No being lazy. Had to pick up a few things but I knew these would go over really well with my family. They did. And they made a great lunch sandwich next day on crusty bread. So good. Already have orders to make this again. Soon. And we don't even like ground chicken. But they looked so good in the magazine.

You can see the fresh mozzarella oozing from the meatballs. It was really a fantastic dish!

Spaghetti and Chicken Parm Meatballs

adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook

Source: Martha Stewart Everyday Food, October 2012
Printable Recipe

salt and pepper
3/4 pound spaghetti
1 3/4 cups plain dried breadcrumbs
1/2 cup milk (I used 1%)
1 1/2 pounds ground white-meat chicken
1 - 1/2 cups olive oil

1 egg white
4 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into small pieces
3 cups marinara sauce (homemade or jarred)
chopped fresh parsley

freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain.

In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, milk, egg white, a teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken and mix together until just combined. In a medium  skillet, add the oil to about one inch or so. Heat oil on medium-high heat.

Place remaining breadcrumbs in a dish. Gently form mixture into balls, and place mozzarella pieces in center of each, then form back into a ball around cheese. Coat balls in breadcrumbs and fry until golden brown, turning once. With a slotted spoon, transfer meatballs to a paper-towel-lined rimmed baking sheet and let drain for a minute.

Discard paper towels and transfer baking sheet to the oven. Bake the meatballs until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Serve with the spaghetti and sauce. Top with grated cheese and parsley. Serve.

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Now thatsa meatball!

These meatballs were UNBELIEVABLE! Best yet! When Tyler Florence called these the ultimate,  I have to agree! I rolled the meatballs in fresh bread crumbs. There's always burger and hot dog buns left over, so I whizz them in the food processor and then throw them in a ziploc bag and freeze it, no waste. I always have fresh crumbs handy. Frying the meatballs with the crumbs gave it a nice crust. Then I threw them in the pot with the sauce. I used perlini (little pearls) mozzarella balls. They're really cute, very teeny, tiny balls of fresh mozzarella in water.  The family is not big on cheese, so the recipe called for Buffalo mozzarella. Telling them the cheese comes from Buffalo wouldn't work, they wouldn't go for cheese from a Water Buffalo. I would. It's very good! But my cheese wimps can be picky, so I didn't chance it.

Perlini (little pearls) mozzarella balls

 

Mozzarella-stuffed Meatballs

Meatballs (Polpette Napoletane)
Source: Tyler's Ultimate, Food Network and Cooking Channel - recipe courtesy Baroness Cecilia Bellelli
adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

3 slices stale bread, crusts removed
1 cup milk
1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 pounds ground beef, you can use a mix of pork and beef
3 eggs
2 ounces pecorino, grated
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 buffalo mozzarella, drained and chopped into little pieces (I used pearlini , little round tiny pieces of fresh mozzarella in water!)
Unseasoned bread crumbs
Extra-virgin olive oil, for frying
Tomato sauce, jar or homemade

Put the bread in a small mixing bowl, cover with milk, and leave to soak.

Chop the parsley and garlic together. Put meat into a large mixing bowl. Squeeze the milk out of the bread and add to meat. Add parsley and garlic. Use your hands to mix the ingredients. Break eggs into the mixture to bind it. Keep mixing. Add the pecorino. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Shape meatballs by hand, make a hole in the top and insert a small piece of mozzarella. Cover it up and pat meatball into shape. Roll them in bread crumbs. Pour olive oil into a frying pan and when it's really hot, fry the meatballs for 5 minutes, or until they have formed a crust. Then turn over. When golden brown and crusty on both sides remove the meatballs from the pan and drain on paper towels.

Add the meatballs to the tomato sauce, cover and simmer on low heat for about an hour or more.

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A revisit to Delmy's meatballs!

Have to say that Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Organic Pasta is very polite. It says please do not overcook! I've never seen this before. Do they know that I have that tendency? How did they know that? My kids have friends that aren't as polite as this pasta is. So I was careful, I did not overcook. My family thanked me! They are polite, too. and no one here likes mushy pasta!

We had Delmy's meatballs with the pasta. Delmy is my son's friend's housekeeper and she makes the best meatballs. Everyone loves them, even Miss Picky. Who, by the way, had a second helping of meatballs. Very teeny, tiny meatballs. Those she likes, not so picky when it comes to meatballs. I've posted about them before. They freeze well and every once in a while it's nice to be able to just defrost something and have dinner on the table in minutes with no fuss and no mess. Unless Grandma drops one on the floor. The dogs like sitting near Grandma.

It might sound as if it would be a sickeningly sweet recipe, it really isn't. It actually sounds like kind of gross combination, but it really does work well together. I tasted it first without knowing the recipe and liked it, the kids raved so the big kid went and asked Delmy for the recipe. It was a big surprise to find that can of cranberry sauce, not to mention the Prego. I assume fine with any jarred sauce, just like it was good with the grape jelly mistake the first time I made them, but better with the cranberry sauce, kids said! So now I stick to the recipe as written. Go figure, normally I deviate, but now I'm afraid to deviate from a can of sauce and a jar of Prego? Miss Picky might go hungry otherwise.

The original post about Delmy's meatballs is here!

Delmy's Meatballs
Printable Recipe

1 can jellied cranberry sauce (or a jar of Grape Jelly!)
1 bottle Heinz chili sauce
1 Vidalia onion
2-3 cloves garlic, minced, chopped, whatever
1/2 jar Prego Spaghetti sauce
4 carrots, sliced into coins
big handful of dried plain breadcrumbs
large package of chopped meat (2 lbs)
2 eggs
1/4 cup water
salt and pepper
couple tablespoons of ketchup
2-3 splashes Worcestershire sauce
4 carrots, washed and peeled and sliced into coins

Mix the eggs, salt and pepper, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, water, breadcrumbs and chopped meat all together. Make very tiny little meatballs and brown them in a skillet.

Meanwhile, in a pot, heat the garlic and the onions, until the onions start to soften and turn golden. Add the cranberry sauce and mix it up until it melts, then pour in the bottle of Heinz Chili sauce and the half jar of Prego sauce. Add the sliced carrots. Stir everything together and bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer. Add the browned meatballs and stir. Simmer for at least an hour, stir occasionally. I did two hours.

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