Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

I had never been a huge fan of meatballs until about 4 years ago. I'm not particularly fond of ground beef except in chili or hamburgers, I've always loathed meatloaf, and the thought of eating reheated leftover meatballs used to turn my stomach. Of course all of this was before I tried the mozzarella stuffed meatballs from Annie's Eats. They made me rethink my whole outlook on meatballs which is why I finally decided to try these.

These meatballs are unlike my previous meatball recipes. Rather than being cooked in the sauce on the stove they are roasted in the oven making them sturdier. Ground chicken has a habit of becoming dry and inedible but these were juicy and delicious. They went well with the spaghetti but they could have stood alone really with some nice buttered pasta and veggies. They even have a promising potential for meatball sandwiches if reheated properly.

Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

Source: Amazing Pinterest World

1 1/4 lbs ground chicken
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used roasted garlic bread crumbs)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the kind in the green can is just fine)
1 Tbsp parsley
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
3 Tbsp marinara sauce or pizza sauce
3 Tbsp olive oil
3-4 slices mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil. Spray the foil with vegetable oil spray and set aside.

In a medium-large mixing bowl combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, parsley, onion powder, fennel seeds, and salt and pepper and stir together with a fork.

Add the garlic and the egg and mix with the fork until it forms a kind of paste.

Add the chicken and mix with your hands until well combined.

Roll the mixture into spheres about the size of a golf ball. You'll get 12-16 meatballs. Place them about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet.

In a small bowl combine the sauce and the olive oil and stir them together. Divide it evenly among the meatballs, placing about a teaspoon on top of each one and spreading it around a little. You could do this with a brush but I did just fine with the spoon.

Transfer the meatballs in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and add about 1/4 of a slice of mozzarella to the top of each meatball.

Switch the oven to broil on high and return the meatballs to the oven for 3-5 minutes, until the cheese on top is brown and bubbly.

Serve warm, we had ours with spaghetti marinara and garlic toast.