Tom Haverford would probably call these, "Chicky Chicky Ballers"
Tom Haverford, the one and only. One of the genius characters on "Parks & Recreation." His slang for food made me hope that he may call these meatballs, chicky chicky ballers. I hope you watched the clip on the previous post because it is GOLD and I think I'm right with my title. And here are the ballers with a spicy marinara dip.
Let's start with the marinara. You'll need onions, garlic (duh), 1 can of Rotel tomatoes with green chiles (mild), red pepper flakes, and a few fresh, grape tomatoes.
Chop about a quarter of your onion and 3 garlic cloves as fine as you can, add onions and garlic to a sauce pan on medium with a 4-count of olive oil. Saute for about 5 minutes, until translucent.
Next, add your grape tomatoes that have been halved. I used about 6 of them. This is not necessary, but I like to add a little fresh to canned when I can. Don't forget to season with salt and pepper! Add about a 6-count of chicken stock to the pan and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes on medium heat.
After 5 minutes, remove the lid and simmer uncovered for 3 minutes. Then add your canned tomatoes and pepper flake. I added a good tablespoon of pepper flakes which is more the medium-hot in spiciness. Go easier on it if too spicy isn't your thing.
Bring the canned tomatoes to temperature, about 10-15 minutes and remove from heat. Take your dip and add to a food processor. If only I had an immersion blender... oh I wish. Let's hope for Christmas! Anyway, blend to your desired thickness.
Give it a taste. Make sure it doesn't need more salt. I added about a 2-count of splenda to mine to reduce the acidity of the tomatoes, I'd recommend you doing the same, okay!! Let the dip cool and refrigerate. I like the dip cold to contrast the hot meatballs, but feel free to serve right from processor.
AND NOW TO THE BALLS... (that's what she said)
Begin with one package of ground chicken and season heavily (like you would a chicken breast) with salt and pepper and about a teaspoon and a half of Italian seasoning.
To the meat, add a 5-count of worsteshire, 1 teaspoon of lemon zest, a quarter of an onion and two garlic cloves-minced finely as you can.
Now, traditionally, bread crumbs are added to meatballs. I don't know about you, but I never have bread crumbs around so I work around that. Take two slices of your sandwich bread and rip the bread into little pieces.
Doesn't this remind you of feeding the ducks as a kid...
I digress, add the bread pieces to enough milk to submerge the bread.
In the meantime, take a handful of fresh parsley and chop, again, as fine as you can. The trick is to take the parsley and make sort of a tight ball and rock the knife back and forth
Add your parsley, about a tablespoon of shredded Romano cheese and take your bread and "ring" it out like you would a paper towel. Crumble the bread as you add to the chicken.
The meatball mixture is now done... almost. This is a great thing to make ahead. Cover and refrigerate at this point (I wouldn't keep it uncooked for more than 12 hours).
When you're ready to cook, preheat your oven at 450 degrees. Take a cookie sheet and brush with some olive oil. Make your meatballs a bit smaller than golf ball size and line them up, touching each other--that makes a difference for some reason. Drip a bit more oil on top of the balls as well as a little sprinkling of cheese.
Bake for 20 minutes. When done, let them rest for about 3 minutes. I just don't want them to break apart on you! After the resting, serve immediately with your dip!!
And I know you don't need a how-to pic on dipping but this is my dad dipping because he just couldn't wait another minute to try. His exact words, "man, these are outstanding!" (said with a full mouth)
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