Cleveland Cooks: Chicken Meatballs with pesto

CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) - Polpetta at the Porco Lounge & Tiki Room shared the recipe for chicken meatball with pesto.

Ingredients for meatballs:

2 pounds of ground chicken

1 each onion, carrot, celery; (all pureed)

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon chopped thyme

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

2 each large eggs (whisked)

3/4 cup ground oats (breadcrumbs will work here as well, oats make them gluten-free!)

Directions

Mix all ingredients by hand until combined.

Be sure that everything is mixed thoroughly so that there are equal ingredients incorporated throughout the entire mix.

For best portions, you can use an ice-cream scoop to measure out your balls before you roll them.

Portion out 2 oz. portions, and roll into balls.

Place them onto a greased and lined baking sheet.

Add one cup of water to your sheet pan to help balls not only steam, but stop from gaining to much color or burn on the bottom.

Before putting in oven, preheat to 350 degrees.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Ingredients for pesto:

3 cups basil leaves

1 cup spinach

2 cups almonds

6 each garlic cloves

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups EVOO (you can use vegetable oil if you prefer)

Directions to finish the dish:

Put all ingredients except for oil into a blender and/or food processor and start to puree on medium speed.

Slowly add your oil until all are combined.

This process should take about two minutes.

Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

You can also freeze this for up to 4 months.

When adding to pasta, or meatballs as a sauce, add 1/2 cup water to one cup pesto and mix.

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