Annabel Karmel's Chicken and Apple Balls

This is a great finger food recipe for the little ones. I have had a problem getting my little guy to eat protein and this is the first recipe that he has willingly fed himself. Although the recipe calls for two chicken breasts, I took a shortcut and used ground turkey - it was still delicious! I also omitted the stock cube (too much salt!) and used italian bread crumbs instead. This recipe is much, much easier with a food processor to get finely chopped ingredients that will incorporate nicely into these meatballs. Also, although this recipe says it makes 20 balls, I made mine much smaller and got closer to 4 dozen. (But then again, I used an entire package of turkey, not just two chicken breasts.)

• Ready In: 30 mins
• Serves: 4-6
• Yields: 20 balls

Ingredients

• 1  onion
• 50  g carrots (finely grated)
• 1  tablespoon light olive oil
• 1  large granny smith apple, peeled and grated
• 2  chicken breasts, cut into chunks
• 1  teaspoon thyme (dried or fresh) (optional)
• 1  tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• 2  ounces  breadcrumbs (fresh, white)
• 1  chicken stock cube, crumbled (for babies over 12 months)
•  salt (to season, for babies over 12 months)
•  pepper (to season, for babies over 12 months)
•  flour, for coating
•  vegetable oil (for frying)

Directions

1. Heat the oil in the pan and saute half the onion and carrot for three minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Squeeze out excess moisture from apple.
3. Mix the grated apple with the chicken,cooked and uncooked onion and carrot, plus parsley, thyme, breadcrumbs, and crumbled stock.
4. Chop for a few seconds in a food processor.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. With your hands, form the mixture into about 20 balls, and roll in flour.
7. Fry in shallow oil until lightly golden and cooked through (about 4 to 5 minutes).