Orecchiette with Mini Chicken Meatballs

This is the famous dish that you will find pictured in the blog title. It is a Giada De Laurentiis dish and has become a favorite of ours.

Ingredients:
1 pound orecchiette pasta
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon whole milk
1 tablespoon ketchup
3/4 cup grated Romano
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground chicken
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock, hot
4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
8 ounces bocconcini mozzarella (cherry sized), halved
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

The How to:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, parsley, eggs, milk, ketchup, Romano cheese, and the salt and pepper. Add the chicken and gently stir to combine.

Using a melon baller (or a teaspoon measure), form the chicken mixture into 3/4-inch pieces. With damp hands, roll the chicken pieces into mini meatballs.

In a large (14-inch) skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add the meatballs and cook without moving until brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Turn the meatballs over and brown the other side, about 2 minutes longer.


Add the chicken stock and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low and simmer until tomatoes are soft and meatballs are cooked through, about 5 minutes.


Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water. Transfer pasta to a large serving bowl and add the Parmesan. Toss to lightly coat orecchiette, adding reserved pasta water, if needed, to loosen the pasta. Add the meatball mixture, mozzarella cheese, and 1/2 cup of the basil. Gently toss to combine. Garnish with the chopped basil.

The Verdict:
This dish is always a crowd pleaser! I like to make this when I know I have a big group of people to cook for because it's so easy and relatively inexpensive to prepare. The flavor of the meatballs and the fresh basil and mozzarella make this dish! The best part (thanks to the broth like sauce) is that you don't get that heavy feeling you sometimes do when you eat hearty Italian food like alfredo or lasagna!

A deviation from the original recipe is that I add cut up broccoli florets. Just toss the broccoli to the boiling pasta water when there there is 5 minutes left on the timer. I also make my meatballs slightly bigger than a melon baller size, so you would want to adjust the cooking time in the browning process.