Soba and Chicken Meatballs

0 Soba and Chicken Meatballs

May 04

This is my healthier and VERY tasty version of the stodgy Americanized version of a dish that does not exist in Italy anywhere Spaghetti and Meatballs. By using lean ground chicken. buckwheat soba noodles and good olive oil I've taken the worst parts of the for mentioned version and replaced the white flour pasta with organic buckwheat soba noodles, the layer of plastic mozzarella cheese with a nice snowing of Parmesan. Just don't tell the kids that its healthy for them they wont know the difference I am sure.

On 04/05/2012 (Friday) at 4:23 pm by Benny.
Tiny Url for this recipe → http://tinyurl.com/78jvknq

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Details

Prep Time:
15 min
Cook Time:
20-30 min
Ready Time:
35 min

Servings

2 servings

Ingredients

package organic buckwheat soba noodles
Parmesan Cheese
Olive oil
handful fresh basil leaves

Chicken Meat Balls

one pound ground chicken
5 cloves of garlic and one small onion chopped
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese and teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup bread crumbs

Tomato Sauce

one small can tomato paste
3 cloves of garlic minced
one large skinless tomato
handful chopped basil
1/4 cup olive oil
teaspoon kosher salt
pinch of dried chili flakes

Directions

Start by making the sauce and this is so easy, hot pan a good glug of olive oil then garlic in. Cook for about one min until fragrant. Now add the fresh chopped tomato and season with kosher salt. Once the tomato starts to break down add the small can of tomato paste and another can of water and bring to a boil then reduce to simmer. Taste it, it will be bland so add about a teaspoon of salt but you can add that slowly and keep tasting. You want this to cook for about 40 min at least. (I don't factor in long simmer times into the recipe time) While the sauce is simmering make the chicken meatballs.

Combine all the ingredients for the meat balls then DO A TEST. Fry a small taster size and check for seasoning, adjust to your liking more salt, more cheese etc. Make them all about walnut size, season with kosher salt and pepper then fry in olive oil until there is a nice crust on them (see photo) this really helps with the flavor.

Now add your chicken meatballs to the sauce and make sure they are covered at least 3/4 of the way. Cover with foil and simmer for another 40 min or longer adding water if needed to the sauce. Give the meatballs a turn every so often. The longer you cook these the better.

Now its time to put it all together. Get your soba noodles and one bunch is a good large portion for a person I use one bunch to make 2 orders it is a good fist size and about 400 calories when finished. Cook the soba noodle according to the package minus a min as we will finish it in the pan.

Get a saute pan and spoon in about one cup of the sauce from the meatballs and bring it to a boil (time this for when the noodles will be ready) then take your soba noodle and a little of the noodle water and into the pan with the sauce. Now toss it a few times let it sit, toss it a few more times until the noodles are one with the sauce meaning there is no sauce left in the pan it is all apart of the noodle. If it looks a little dry add another small ladle of the sauce and keep tossing.

To plate twist the noodles with a pair of tongs into the middle of a dish, place 3 meatballs around and finish with some grated Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.

I promise this will satisfy any pasta lover and especially good for kids as the buckwheat soba noodles are good fiber for them and not just white flour.

Enjoy!

Benny