I’ve been thinking about how to put a twist on some classic dishes lately. One of my favorites is Chicken Parmigiana. Who can resist the call of crispy chicken, hearty tomato sauce, and gooey cheese? Not this guy. But there are only so many ways to reinvent the wheel when it comes to a good chicken parm. So, I thought, “what about chicken parmigiana as a meatball?” and the idea for this dish was born. These meatballs have all the aspects of a plate of chicken parm that you love, without all of the work, and in a new, unique way.

Ingredients:

1-2 lbs of ground chicken—I like white meat, but if you’re afraid of your meatballs drying out, then dark meat is delicious. Same thing with ground turkey

1 tablespoon of minced garlic

1 teaspoon of minced onion, dried

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of pepper

1 egg

1/4 cup of wheat germ—breadcrumb lam work well too, but I think the wheat germ in the actual meatball gives it a little bit of sweetness that you often find in slow cooked chicken parmigiana dishes

1 ball of fresh mozzarella

1/2 cup of Panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup and 1-2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes (use a sliding scale depending on your preference)

1/4 teaspoon of basil, dried

1-2 cups of tomato sauce (see recipe here)

To Make the Meatballs:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a bowl, mix ½ cup of Parmesan cheese with the Panko breadcrumbs, and set aside
3. Cut a few slices of the mozzarella, about ½ of the ball, and cube all but 2 of them
4. In another bowl, combine ground chicken, wheat germ, egg, salt, pepper, basil, garlic and onion together in a bowl
5. Mix the meat mixture, but not too much, just until it becomes homogenous
6. Grab about 1/8 of the meat mixture and form into a small patty
7. Use your thumb to make a small well in the center of the patty and place a couple of cubes of cheese there
8. Use your fingers to curl the meat around the cheese into a ball and your other hand to seal the edges. All do the cheese should be covered by meat so it doesn’t leak out
9. Roll the meatball in the Parmesan breadcrumb mixture until coated all over
10. Place the coated meatballs on a greased baking sheet, evenly spaced apart
11. Put the meatball sheet into the refrigerator for about 30-60 minutes, or 15-20 minutes in the freezer to firm up
12. Add a bit of olive oil to the top of each meatball before baking
13. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes
14. Once they’re starting to brown, flip the meatballs and bake for another 15 minutes
15. Remove the meatballs from the oven and turn the heat up to 425 degrees
16. In a small baking dish, or a large one, if you’d like to do them all at once, place your meatballs
17. Cover with 1-2 cups of the tomato sauce and the remaining cheese
18. Bake the meatballs again in the oven for 6-8 minutes. You just want to get the meatballs to absorb some of the sauce, and the cheese to melt nicely

Serve and enjoy! I like mine with a nice Caesar salad on the side, but these would be great with some pasta tossed in the same tomato sauce, on a sub, as a topping for pizza, or even as an appetizer. You’ll love this twist on your normal meatball recipe. Go balls to the wall! 😉