Rather a long title but at least you know what you are getting! Each meatball – chicken, pork and beef – has different herbs or spices but they all go well with a tomato basil sauce. I used ground dark chicken meat for the chicken meatballs and teamed the it with chopped spinach and red pepper flakes. The pork meatballs contain mustard and parsley and the beef meatballs are flavored with garlic, parsley, oregano and thyme. This is good for batch cooking – there will be meat mixture left which you can either shape into meatballs or mini meatballs (good for hors d’oeuvres with a dip) or leave as is and use in a spaghetti sauce later. I placed my meatballs in a muffin tray with 24 small to medium sized muffin molds.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
1 x 24 muffins muffin tray – greased with olive oil
Chicken Meatballs
1 pound ground chicken (dark meat has a stronger flavor)
1 egg
1/2 a shallot – finely chopped
2.5 oz. baby spinach – cooked, well drained (I squeeze mine an a clean T-towel) and chopped
Pinch or so of red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you like things)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place the ground chicken in a large mixing bowl.
Beat egg in a small mixing bowl and add the shallot, chopped spinach, red pepper flakes and seasoning.
Add egg mixture to ground chicken and mix together well before forming into meatballs. Place 8 meatballs in the muffin tray that holds 24 meatballs. Freeze leftovers.
Pork Meatballs
1 pound ground pork
1 egg
1/2 a shallot – finely chopped
1 rounded tsp. Dijon mustard
2 tbsp. parsley – finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place ground pork in a large mixing bowl.
Beat egg in a small mixing bowl then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
Pour egg mixture onto ground pork and mix together well, then form into meatballs and place 8 in the muffin tray (freeze leftovers)
Beef Meatballs
1 pound of ground beef
1 egg
1/2 a shallot – finely chopped
1 large clove of garlic – grated
1 tbsp parsley – finely chopped
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place the ground beef in a large mixing bowl.
Beat egg in a small mixing bowl and add the rest of the ingredients, stirring well.
Mix together well to form meatballs and place 8 of them in the muffin tray. Freeze leftovers.
Place muffin tray in the oven anda cook at 350 degrees F for half an hour. Remove muffins from tray and place on paper towel to absorb any grease.
Tomato Sauce
1/2 tsp. olive oil seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 shallot – finely chopped
1 garlic clove – grated
1 x 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes
2 tbsp. basil – finely chopped
Place oil in a small frying pan and when sizzling add the shallot and garlic and let soften. Add the tomatoes and basil and let simmer for 15 minuntes. Puree in a food processor and add a little water if you want a thinner sauce.
Zucchini ‘Spaghetti’
3 large zucchini – spiralized
Place zucchini in a large pan and add a little boiling water. Place a lid on the pan and boil for a couple of minutes until zucchini is cooked but not soggy. Drain well and pat dry.
Serve dish immediately.
