Baked Chicken Meatballs
Eric really likes these chicken meatballs from Smitten Kitchen.
3 slices Italian bread, torn into small bits (1 cup)
1/3 cup milk 3 ounces sliced pancetta, finely chopped (you can swap in Canadian Bacon if you can’t find pancetta) 1 small onion, finely chopped 1 small garlic clove, minced 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided 1 large egg 1 pound ground chicken 2 tablespoons tomato paste, divided 3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley |
Preheat oven to 400°F with a rack in the upper third of the oven. Soak bread in milk in a small bowl until softened, about four minutes.
Cook pancetta, onion, and garlic in one tablespoon oil with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a large skillet over medium heat until onion is softened, about 6 minutes. (Alternately, as in “I thought of this after the fact”, I’d bet you could render the pancetta for a couple minutes and cook the onions and garlic in that fat, rather than olive oil.) Cool slightly. Squeeze bread to remove excess milk, then discard milk. Lightly beat egg in a large bowl, then combine with chicken, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, pancetta mixture, bread, and parsley. Form 12 meatballs and arrange in another 4-sided sheet pan (I used a 9×13 roasting dish). Stir together remaining tablespoons of tomato paste and oil and brush over meatballs (the paste/oil does not mix in any cohesive manner, but just smoosh it on and run with it) , then bake in upper third of oven until meatballs are just cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes (though mine took a good 5 minutes longer). |
Source
Notes:
Notes:
- I almost never have bread on hand, and getting a whole loaf just for this can seem like a lot; I subbed 1 cup panko for the bread.
- Oh, and bacon (which we stock in the freezer) for the pancetta.