Sourdough chicken meatballs

Name: Sourdough chicken meatballs
Cook time: 1 h
Yield: about 25 meatballs, serves 5
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 175ml milk; 150g sourdough bread, crusts are fine, diced; 2 large cloves garlic, peeled and mashed; 1 medium onion, peeled and coarsely grated; 1 egg; 1 tsp salt; 50g butter, softened; 2 tsp dried dill; 750g chicken breast fillets, off the bone and chopped

Dan Lepard

September 28, 2015

easyTime:30 mins - 1 hourMakes:about 25 meatballs, serves 5

The gentle acidity of good sourdough bread adds extra flavour to these easy meatballs - the butter and milk binds to the chicken and helps create a beautifully light texture. I've flavoured them with dill but use whatever herbs you have to hand, or add chopped, pitted black olives or even walnuts (100 grams of either will do). Use a food processor or chop everything finely and use minced chicken.

Ingredients

175ml milk
150g sourdough bread, crusts are fine, diced
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and mashed
1 medium onion, peeled and coarsely grated
1 egg
1 tsp salt
50g butter, softened
2 tsp dried dill
750g chicken breast fillets, off the bone and chopped

Method

1. Put the milk in a saucepan with the bread and boil until the bread is soft. Remove from the heat, stir in the garlic and onion and spoon into a food processor.
2. Add the egg, salt, butter and dill then puree until smooth. Add the chicken breast and puree again: try to keep a rough texture but with everything well combined.
3. Heat the oven to 180C fan-forced and line a large baking tray with non-stick paper.
4. Shape the chicken mix into 25 x 50g balls using wet hands. Place the meatballs on the tray and bake for about 20 minutes until piping hot throughout and just beginning to colour.
5. Serve with spoonfuls of tomato sauce and ribbon noodles.

Tip: If you need to store the chicken mixture for a day then make sure the bread mixture is cold before mixing everything together.