Love this quick and flavorful weeknight meal that can be pulled together easily. You can prep the chicken meatballs early in the day and then assemble the sauce quickly and serve with chicken or rice. It is tasty and easy and I love the use of the sun dried tomatoes as a base for the creamy sauce.

Serves 2-4

Yield 12-13 meatballs

Ingredients:

For chicken meatballs:

  • 1/4 cup panko 
  • 2-3 tablespoons cream
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1/4 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
  • 3 ounces grated Parmesan
  • 3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1/2 onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup Italian parsley
  • 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, or oregano
  • 1 teaspoons kosher salt, and pepper to taste
  • 1 lb ground chicken 

For sauce:

  • 1/2 cup drained, sundried tomatoes, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup cream
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock (a little more or less to thicken or thin sauce
  • 2 large shallot, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons of butter
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper to taste
  • 2 teaspoons oregano
  • Kosher salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • fresh basil leaves for garnish
  • extra grated Parmesan for serving

Directions:

For chicken meatballs:

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, place panko and cream together and allow panko to absorb the cream for about 5 minutes. Next add the egg yolk to the mixture. In a food processor or blender , blend the parsley, garlic and onion (you can also do this by hand, but finely chop the ingredients) In a large bowl, combine all remaining ingredients, making sure everything is blended well until all ingredients are well incorporated. Using your hands, take about 2 tablespoons of mixture and place on prepared baking sheet about an inch apart. You should have about (You can refrigerate the meatballs at this point until you are ready to bake.) Place in the oven an bake for about 20 -25 minutes. Remove the meatballs from the oven and keep warm.

For sauce:

While meatballs are baking, in a large skillet, melt butter and add shallots, crushed red pepper on low heat until tender and fragrant (a few minutes). Add the tomato paste and sundried tomatoes, stirring frequently and season with oregano, salt and pepper. Add chicken stock and cream into skillet, stirring occasionally, until sauce is slightly reduced and thickened about 3 to 4 minutes. Keep sauce warm and place baked meatballs into skillet, turning to coat in sauce. Garnish with basil and serve with extra Parmesan as desired. Enjoy!