Chicken Meatballs with Mozzarella

Chicken Meatballs with Mozzarella Centers

Ouch.   I've long been guilty of subscribing to food/recipe oriented magazines, and with good intentions I read them and earmark recipes I'd like to try. Unfortunately too often time gets away from me and before I know it the next issue has arrived in my mail box.
This year I'm trying to improve this habit ~  For starters I've pared down the number of subscriptions and I'm making an effort to actually make at least one or two recipes that I've saved.
Maybe you've found, as I have, that with access to the  internet the number of great recipes available to us is seemingly endless. So if you're not a magazine subscriber or cookbook-collector there is no need to be concerned about finding great recipes when there are so many available  at the touch of our keypads.



These are also delicious served as an appetizer with marinara (skip the pasta) or served with cocktail picks and your favorite salsa.


This recipe is from a fall 2012 issue of Everyday Food.
The changes I made to the recipe:  
1.) I did not deep fry the meatballs before baking;  I shallow fried them in a skillet with about 1/2-inch of oil, then drained well before baking to finish cooking them through.  You can skip the frying step, but the meatballs will be a rather unappealing pale gray color, and they won't have the pleasing thin,  crisp coating.
2.) I made each meatball about 1 1/2-inch in diameter; 3 or 4 meatballs of this size (with pasta) seemed like a generous portion.  3.) I grind my own chicken (boned, trimmed and skinned thighs) with the  KitchenAid Food Grinder (attachment for KA stand mixers).
If you haven't tried grinding your own meat, I urge you to do so. You can control the grind that you prefer, you'll know just what goes into your ground meat, and the quality is far superior to that which you can buy.  It's a very simple process and only takes a few minutes for worthwhile results.


A nice melty surprise when the meatball is cut open. The meatballs above were cooked right after assembly.


These were frozen after shallow frying. (Cooled then frozen, to be baked later.)

I froze half of the meatballs after shallow frying, cooled (before baking), they freeze beautifully ~ I thawed them for about an hour before baking.  The only difference I noted is that the mozzarella chunk left an exact impression after baking.  The melted cheese is not quite gooey as those freshly  assembled then cooked immediately, but I doubt anyone but you will know the difference!  ;^)
Note: You can also make these using ground turkey.


If you try this method of preparing meatballs, I hope it will become a favorite.
Thank you for stopping by today!
xo~m.