A super easy recipe mixed in a single bowl, of healthy, spicy meatballs that can be eaten either as a snack or in a favourite tomato sauce.
Ingredients:
- 450g minced chicken
- 1 small onion (about 2” diameter), grated
- 6 cloves garlic, grated or pressed through a garlic press
- 4 tablespoons breadcrumbs
- 4 tablespoons parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8-12 black peppercorns, ground in a mortar, or ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon ancho chili, ground
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions:
- Heat oven to 200 degrees Celcius
- Place chicken mince in a large mixing bowl. Combine all ingredients except olive oil with chicken. Mix well using a fork (or your hands!)
- Grease a large cookie sheet with olive oil. Make one-inch balls and place on sheet.
- Using a brush, baste the balls with olive oil.
- Bake for 25 minutes until balls start browning.
- Serve as a starter with ketchup, or serve with spaghetti in a tomato sauce.
Critical Ingredients:
These meatballs taste great with minced chicken, but you could really use pork, beef, or mutton. Parmesan, egg and the breadcrumbs are really necessary to get the balls to bind, but any hard cheese can be substituted for parmesan. I have only tried to make these with parsley, although I imagine fresh coriander or basil would work just as well. I like Worcestershire sauce myself, but I don’t think anyone will miss it if you skip it. You can use any chilies – I like my meatballs spicy and love the earthy smokiness of ancho chilies. But with so much pepper, the chilies won’t be sorely missed if you skip them. Paprika works well too and gives nice colour.
