Spaghettini with Cheesy Chicken Meatballs

Usually when a particular week is busy that might mean dinner has to be simple and quick. And what better meal than a Spaghetti Bolognese. However as the snow fell my mind drifted and I changed the dinner plans to meatballs instead. The last time I made meatballs I did them stove top and the aspect of frying them consumed much time. These are a breeze to make and taste delicious. 20 minutes in the oven. Easy!  

To make these delicious or as my daughter said... scrumptious, baked meatballs you will need the following: 

1 package of ground chicken 

1 egg

1/2 cup breadcrumbs or your favourite butter crackers smashed into tiny bits

1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese 

2 teaspoons of basil

1 teaspoon of oregano

1 teaspoon of garlic and herb Mrs. Dash

1 teaspoon parsley 

a pinch of salt

a dash of pepper

1/4 cup cornmeal (or bread crumbs) to roll the meatballs in. 

First preheat the oven to 400ºF and grab a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper.

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. Using your hands form into rounds no bigger than a walnut.

Take the cornmeal and place on a plate. Roll each meatball in the cornmeal and place on the prepared baking sheet. 

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until cooked all the way through. 

Notes: This is a recipe that has some give and take. You can always change up the herbs and spices for different ones. Try using different ground meat. Parmesan cheese or mozzarella cheese are great alternatives to old cheddar. However I think a lovely blue cheese would do just nicely too.  

Something else that is simple to make... basic tomato sauce. Empty a 720ml jar of organic strained tomatoes (passata sauce) into a saucepan. Add some basil, oregano, rosemary or herbs de provence. Add a dash of salt, a bit of pepper, crushed garlic, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and some HP sauce otherwise known as brown sauce. Stir it all together and let simmer for about a half hour. What better way to pass the time while the meatballs are baking and the is pasta cooking. 

Cheesy Lime Corn Muffins

When making chili this week I was inspired to whip these up! Make whatever cornbread recipe you have and add about 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese to the dry ingredients. Mix together. Add the grated lime rind with the liquid ingredients. Mix all ingredients together just until moist. Then spoon into muffin tins or whatever form of baking tin you have and bake. The cornbread muffins were cheesy with the right hint of lime. Because I luv cheese I added a bit more than a cup. Adding different ingredients to cornbread has it's possibilities. What ingredients have you tried? - JW  

I did post a recipe for cornbread back in February. Either click on that month under the heading Blog Archive on the right hand side or click on the word recipes under the heading Lables.