bites of seasonal, healthy, easy to make, mostly Mediterranean food
Simple Chicken Meatballs
by hilla.kariv on November 27, 2010
If there’s anything I’d like to do in life – that doesn’t involve food – it’s to be an animator. And if an animator, then at Pixar would be great, thank you very much. DreamWorks would be great too.
I got this from DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda, which we just re-watched recently:
Yesterday is history
Tomorrow is a mystery
Today is a gift
That is why it is called the present!
-Master Oogway
I’d really love to be the smart turtle, but as usual, I discovered I’m the panda bear. If there was ever a need to teach me kung fu, god knows why, this would be the way –
It’s perfectly clear to everyone that a dumpling recipe is coming next, but no. Yes, I did buy the ready-made dumpling wrappers but a a quick glance at the ingredient list resulted in shock, so I decided on my friend Ofri’s chicken meatballs instead. These meatballs were a worthy dumpling replacement – soft, sophisticated and stunning with a gentle hint of smoked bacon. The Man was very happy to eat them in the wee hours of the night when he came home from work and I needed extreme will power to resist grabbing few early in the morning- that good!
I added the spinach because I felt like seeing green. You can do without, or use well drained frozen spinach.
Spinach Before
Spinach After
Simple Chicken Meatball Recipe
Adapted from Ofri Zuta
1 pound / 500 gr. fresh spinach leaves
1 pound /500 gr. ground chicken breast
3 oz / 80 gr. smoked bacon, finely chopped
2 eggs
1 medium onion- very finely chopped
½ cup breadcrumbs
1 heaping teaspoon of whole grain Dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground pepper
Quickly steam the spinach: put the leaves in a wide pan with 1 tablespoon of water. Cover and cook until the spinach has significantly decreased in size (a few minutes). Stir and continue to cook on high heat until all the liquid has evaporated. You get perfect steamed spinach, with no need to drain! Just don’t forget to stir occasionally.
Transfer to a cutting board and chop roughly- let cool.
Meanwhile, mix the ground chicken with the rest of the ingredients. I like to test a small flat patty in a hot pan to check seasoning at this stage.
Form meatballs and fry in oil or like me, transfer to a lightly oiled pan and broil/roast at 500 f / 250c until browned and cooked through, about 15-20 minutes.
Hilla Kariv is sure she was put on earth to eat, feed people and talk about food.
Hilla interned in some great kitchens including Lupa, Union Square Cafe, Balthazar and Chez Panisse and worked for Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery. Read more...
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
These are delicious, thank you!
Great recipe!