From the Kitchen : Spicy Chicken Meatballs

Your local Italian is still closed! So what are you to do? Do not fret. Here is a simple and yet tasty recipe that you can try at home, alongside a good serving of pasta. 

 

Spicy chicken meatballs

Meatball:

230 gm minced chicken meat 

40 gm breadcrumbs 

1 tbsp chilli flakes

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 egg

1tbsp thyme

salt and pepper to taste

flour for dusting

Pasta sauce:

1 can of tomatoes

1 onion 

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

This crazy mess will come out well, trust me!

1. Combine everything well (save for the flour). Take a scoopful of the mixed mince and roll it into a ball. Dust it with flour to prevent it from sticking. Leave them to rest in the fridge for at least 10 mins so they will set and keep their shape. 

Pro tip: 

• If you do not have any mince lying around, you can use a combination of thigh, breast meat and skin, which I did. As chicken does not have as much fat as beef, you may use the chicken skin as a "replacement" of sorts. You can use a food processor to mince it down. Or if you are like me, use a cleaver and go downtown to your fowl meat. 
• Try to make sure that your meatballs are the same size, as this will make cooking more even and easier to manage. I did this by using a weighing scale and measuring each meatball at about 20 gms. 

Sizzle!

2. Pan fry your meatballs to seal the meat. You do not have to cook it through, but rather until it changes colour and that char-ness comes through. No colour, no flavour. Also, cook your meatball in batches and make sure there are some space between them. If the pan is too crowded, you will not get the charring you need and instead you end up steaming them. 

Sizzle again!

3. Remove the meatballs and make a simple pasta sauce using the pasta sauce ingredients as mentioned above. Start by frying your aliums first in the chicken fat that was left behind before adding the tomatoes. If your tomatoes are too sour, add some sugar. And if you want to put in more spiciness into your overall dish, you can add in fresh chillies or chilli flakes in here. I ran out of both so I omitted this. 

Oh yes!

4. Once the sauce starts to bubble, add in your meatballs and leave them to cook through, which will take approximately 8 minutes. Turn the meat balls every few minutes. 

If this appears on my kitchen table everyday, then it is proof that heaven exists in this world. 

5. Serve it on a bed of pasta and with a side of garlic toast if you can. 

This is a simple dish that yields great results. If you want to bump up the authenticity element even more, you can add parmesan cheese into the meatball instead of salt and to season your sauce before serving. Unfortunately, I do not have any lying around at this time. But it will for sure make this taste even better that it is.