Author Notes: I love a good chicken meatball. These are flavored with sage and fennel seed, and stuffed with creamy gorgonzola and walnuts, basted with a sweet/savory/sticky plum sauce. Really good. —HeartBellyAndSoul
Makes: about 20 meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs
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1
pound Ground Chicken
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3
Fresh Sage Leaves
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1
teaspoon Fennel Seeds
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1/2
teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
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1
Egg
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1/2
cup Panko Breadcrumbs
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1
Shallot
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1
pinch Salt and Pepper
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1/2
cup Gorgonzola, crumbles
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1/4 c
cups Walnuts, chopped
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1/4
cup Whipped Cream Cheese
Plum Sauce
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1/2
cup Red Plum Jelly
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1
tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
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1
cup Chicken Broth
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1
tablespoon Chopped Shallot
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1
tablespoon Honey
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1
tablespoon Brown Sugar
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1
pinch Salt and Pepper
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1
Sage Leaf
Directions
Meatballs
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NOTE: Start the sauce before putting the meatballs in the pre-heated, 375 degree oven.
Finely chop the Sage leaves.
Run a sharp knive through the fennel seeds to chop.
Finely dice the Shallot, reserving 1 TBLS for the sauce.
Add first 9 ingredients to the ground chicken in a medium bowl.
Stir with your hand shaped like a claw until mixed. - In a separate bowl, cream together Gorgonzola, Cream Cheese and Walnuts, with a pinch of salt and pepper.
-
Roll about 1 tsp of the cheese/walnut mixture into 1/2 inch balls.
Shape about 1 TBLS of chicken mixture around the cheese, making meatballs about the size of a golf-ball. - Bake at 375 degree for 16 minutes, rotating after 8 minutes. Baste with plum sauce, and bake for another 8 minutes, for a total of 24 minutes.
Plum Sauce
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in a saucepan, whisk together first 8 ingredients.
Bring to a low simmer over medium-low heat.
Add sage leaf.
Continue to simmer and whisk occasionally, about 20 minutes, until reduced by about half and starting to thicken. -
Keep warm on very low heat.
Baste the meatballs with sauce after 16 minutes of cooking, and then again after they are removed from the oven.