Chicken Meatballs with Tomato-Balsamic Glaze

Since I stopped being a vegetarian, I've started a love affair with meatballs (save the jokes). And like with most love affairs, things get stale after a while if you don't spice things up a little. Maybe that's the wrong expression to use (because these aren't at all spicy). But you know what I mean...mix it up a little. These did the trick. Because of the glaze, they're kind of like little mini meatloaves (then again, I guess all meatballs sort of are).

  CHICKEN MEATBALLS WITH TOMATO-BALSAMIC GLAZE

Makes 14 meatballs

Meatballs:

1 egg
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground chicken (preferably not all breast meat)
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Italian seasoned bread crumbs

Tomato-Balsamic Glaze:

2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar

1.      Preheat oven to 325º F.

2.      In a large bowl, combine egg, parsley, tomato paste, garlic, milk, salt and pepper. Mix well with a wire whisk, making sure the tomato paste is completely dissolved.

3.      Add ground chicken, grated cheese and breadcrumbs. Use your hand to mix ingredients together. Mixture will be somewhat wet. Form medium size balls (an ice cream scooper with wire scraper works well) and place onto ungreased baking sheet or very large baking dish.

4.      Make the glaze by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl, then brush over meatballs (if you don't have a brush, just use a spoon). Bake for about 30 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of a meatball registers 160º F. Remove from oven and serve.

barely adapted from onceuponachef.com

egg, parsley, tomato paste, garlic, milk, salt & pepper

adding chicken, bread crumbs & cheese

mixed

scooping

raw chicken meatballs

tomato paste, olive oil, balsamic vinegar & sugar

glaze mixed

I doubled the glaze from the original recipe - I like mine
extra glazy (which should really stand for good & lazy,
but in this just, just means with lots of glaze).

glazing meatball

glazed

baked

chicken meatballs with tomato-balsamic glaze

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