Another busy weekday of running around but still have to think of something to put on the table for dinner. This recipe is easy to make and so incredibly delicious. The entire family raves about it. They love spaghetti and meatballs but I like to put a twist on it and do something slightly different. I love a bowl of pasta but don’t like to cook it too much anymore; otherwise I will be in a food coma the rest of the night. But when I think of making meatballs, what goes better with them than pasta. I like to make different types of pastas too; the kids get so excited when they see a new pasta shape like I just created something incredible! It is kind of funny how excited they get over a different shape to their noodle. It is like a big announcement; they have to tell everyone in the house that we are trying something new tonight! Those are my kids, getting excited over a noodle. They definitely have Italian running through them.
You have to give this recipe a try. The Orecchiette noodles soak up all the goodness and the Chicken meatballs are probably the best I have tried. This dish has so much flavor from the creamy & cheesy sauce to the flavorful meatballs. These meatballs are light but also so tender & moist; there is no dryness in these meatballs. I made the meatballs on the small side to go with the size of these noodles and finishing the meatballs off in the sauce let them soak up all that yummy flavor. Give it a try, it won’t disappoint!
Orecchiette w/Chicken Meatballs in Tomato Cream Sauce
Makes approx. 36 meatballs (about 7-8 Servings)
or approx. 10 Appetizer size Meatballs
Ingredients
1 lb., Ground Chicken
1/2 Cup, Panko Bread Crumbs
1/4 Cup, Milk
1/2, White Onion, chopped
6, Mushrooms, chopped
1 Tablespoon, Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon, Butter
S&P
1/4 Cup, Fresh Parsley
1 Egg
1/2 cup+extra for garnish, Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese, grated
1/4 Cup, Italian Cheese, shredded
1/3 Cup, Chicken Broth
1 Can (14.5 oz), Fire Roasted Tomatoes
1 Package (8 oz), Cream Cheese, softened
1 Can (24 oz), Tomato Sauce or Spaghetti Sauce
1 Tablespoon, Italian Seasonings
1 Teaspoon, Garlic Powder
1 Box (1 lb.), Orecchiette Pasta
Instructions
To make the meatballs:
In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine your Panko and milk and let sit until the breadcrumbs have soaked up the milk, about 3-5 minutes. Set aside.
Place a sauté pan on the stove over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the butter. Once the butter melts, add the oil. Then add the the chopped onion, mushrooms and sauté for about 5 minutes or so. Once the mushrooms start to get golden in color, season with salt and pepper and a teaspoon of your fresh parsley. Continue cooking for about another 5 minutes; the onions should be translucent and the mushrooms a nice golden brown color. Transfer the mushroom/onion to a food processor (I like to use my mini chopper) and chop the veggies until all combined and finely chopped. Set aside to cool. *You can also leave the mushroom/onion mixture bigger if you like.
Add the ground chicken to the mixing bowl that has the Panko breadcrumbs/milk mixture. Also add 1/4 cup of your Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese (leaving the rest for the sauce and for topping the pasta bowls), Italian Cheese, mushroom/onion mixture and egg. Using a fork or your hands, mix well until all combined. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll meatballs into smaller sized balls (about 1 heaping teaspoon) and place them onto the baking sheet. Cover and place the tray of meatballs into fridge while you prepare your sauce.
Sauce: Place a large saute pan on the stove over medium-low heat. Add your cans of tomato and tomato sauce. Season with some S&P, Italian Seasonings, garlic powder and a tablespoon of your fresh chopped parsley. When the sauce becomes hot, add the cream cheese. Make sure the cream cheese is really soft so it melts easier. I like to cut the cream cheese into cubes or smaller pieces so it melts quicker. Stir the sauce to incorporate the cream cheese. Once cream cheese is melted, add about 1/4 cup of your Parmigiano-Reggiano and stir well. You can use a whisk or even an emulsion blender if necessary so you end up with a nice, thick, creamy sauce. I also added 1/3 Cup Chicken Broth towards the end of cooking to thin my sauce a bit and to lighten up the flavor.
Mixing orecchiette with sauce & Meatballs
While the sauce is cooking, cook your meatballs. Place the rack in the oven in the middle and turn the broiler on. Place the tray of meatballs into the oven, under broiler for about 7-10 minutes, just until they start to get a nice golden brown color. Remove the meatballs from the oven and transfer them to your sauce to finish cooking them through.
Cook pasta according to the instructions. I like to add about a teaspoon or so of kosher salt and a teaspoon of olive oil to the water. Drain pasta (do not rinse) and add the pasta to your sauce and gently mix everything together. You want the pasta to start soaking up the sauce.
Place pasta and meatballs in bowls, top each with a little of the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and garnish with parsley.
Orecchiette w/Chicken Meatballs & Tomato Cream Sauce
Mangia! Enjoy!
Tips
These Chicken Meatballs are so good! They are so tender and moist; no dry meatballs here!
Ground chicken is a little more challenging to roll into meatballs; it tends to stick to your hands. So, I took 2 small spoons (my cereal spoons) and scooped up a small bit of the meat and then just transferred it back and forth between spoons to form a ball. Using the spoons, then transferred the meatball to the baking sheet. Kept my hands cleaner and also made it easier to form the meatballs. I ended up with less chicken on my hands and more in the meatballs!!
If you don’t like cream cheese, you can substitute cream (light or heavy cream). My family loves how this sauce turns out so creamy but also a nice light cheesy flavor too.
If you don’t want to add the chicken broth at the end to your sauce you can always use a little of the water that your pasta is cooking in.