Spaghetti With Chicken Meatballs

Sara 76's Note:

This is another fantastic recipe from The Essential Pasta Cookbook. I have altered it only slightly from the original. It's one of my favourites, and another of those recipes that looks really impressive on the table!

• Total Time: 2 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 45 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 500 g ground chicken
• 60 g fresh parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 cup fresh breadcrumb
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 tablespoon sage
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• 1 kg spaghetti
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 kg tomatoes, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup fresh basil leaf
• 1 teaspoon black pepper, coarsely ground

Directions:

1. Mix the chicken mince, parmesan, breadcrumbs, garlic, egg, parsley, and sage. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Shape the mixture into small balls, and chill for about 30 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a shallow pan, and fry the balls until golden brown. Turn them often by gently shaking the pan. Drain on paper towel.
3. To make the sauce, heat the second measurement of oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomato and bay leaves, cover and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to low, partially cover, and cook for 60 minutes.
4. Remove the bay leaves.
5. Add the meatballs to the sauce, along with the basil leaves and freshly ground black pepper, and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
6. While the sauce is simmering, cook the spaghetti in a pot of boiling water until al dente.
7. Add some sauce to the pasta and toss to distribute.
8. Serve the pasta in individual bowls, topped with meatballs and sauce.

Reviews

[Lainey6605]

I've never made chicken meatballs, but I have to admit I really liked them. Such a wonderful flavor with all of the seasonings. My family loved this. I will make again definitely. Made for ZWT7 for the Vivacious Violets.

[**Jubes**]

Reviewed for ZWT 7- awesome spaghetti dinner. All of my family give you 5 stars. To make our dinner gluten-free, I used gluten-free bread for the crumbs, but otherwise made the recipe as stated. The chicken meatballs were full of flavour and the sauce was delicious. Served with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese over the top. Photo also to be posted

[bluemoon downunder]

A wonderfully flavoursome dish. I loved the fact that the Chicken Meatballs and the sauce included so many fabulous herbs, and herbs that blended together just so well. My only additions were about half an onion to the Chicken Meatballs and two cloves of garlic to the sauce. I minced both lots of the onion (2 onions) and garlic (4 cloves) together in my mini processor and used less than half in the Chicken Balls and the rest in the sauce. Everything smelt divine while I was preparing this recipe and while it was cooking. We thoroughly enjoyed this dish and, because there were only two of us eating these, we have several more serves in the freezer. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, Sara. Made for PRMR.