Chicken Parm Meatballs
Adapted from Dinner: The Playbook: A 30-Day Plan for Mastering the Art of the Family Meal [1] by Jenny Rosenstrach and Rao's Cookbook: Over 100 Years of Italian Home Cooking [2] by Frank Pellegrino, via Food52 [3]
Notes
Don't be tempted to substitute ground chicken breast for the ground chicken thigh; it's far too lean and will result in tough, dry meatballs. If ground chicken thigh isn't sold at your market, ask the butcher counter to do it for you.
Ingredients
- Scant 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
Scant 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Heaping 1/2 pound ground chicken thigh
1/2 cup panko
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano (or parmesan cheese)
1 egg, whisked; discard half
1 tablespoon chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
1/2 clove small clove garlic, minced
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup lukewarm water
About 7 ounces store-bought marinara sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
4 ounces spaghetti
About 2 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into 6 thin slices
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400°F, setting rack to upper third part of oven. Line a rimmed sheet pan with foil.
- Put the fennel seeds and salt on a cutting board, and use a chefs knife to roughly chop the fennel seeds. (The salt helps anchor the seeds to the cutting board.)
- Add the chicken, panko, Pecorino Romano, egg, parsley, garlic, fennel seed and salt, pepper, and about half of the water to a large mixing bowl. Use your hands to gently mix everything together. The meatballs should be quite moist; if they aren't, add more of the water until they are. Shape into 6 equal-sized meatballs (they'll be roughly lacrosse-ball sized) and place a few inches from each other on the sheet pan.
- In a small bowl, mix one spoonful of your marinara sauce with olive oil. Brush this mixture on top of each meatball. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the spaghetti according to the package's instructions, until almost al dente.
- Remove meatballs from oven, spoon some sauce on top of each meatball, and cover each with a slice of cheese. Broil another 3 to 5 minutes until cheese is bubbly and golden.
- Heat remaining sauce in a small saucepan. Add the slightly undercooked pasta to the tomato sauce, toss to coat, and continue cooking for about 1 minute, or until the pasta is al dente.
- Garnish the spaghetti and meatballs with chopped parsley.
Information
- Category
- Pasta, Main Dishes
- Cuisine
- North American
- Yield
- Serves 2