Riddle me this: is it possible to crave something you’ve never tried…or at least have no recollection? Apparently so! A couple of week’s ago, my mom emailed me about a dish she ordered at Delfino, our local restaurant in London:
Farfalle con Polpettine di Pollo: Butterfly pasta with chicken meatballs, mixed wild mushrooms, garlic and chilli
Since then, I’ve had meatballs on my mind. After Googling a bit, I came across Blogilates’ recipe for “Super, Healthy, Ultra Clean Meatballs.” It seemed pretty easy, looked tasty, and contained ingredients which I had at home. I did make a few tweaks along the way though:
- The recipe calls for 2.5 lbs of chicken breast; I only had 2 breasts to work with so I scaled back the other ingredients accordingly
- I added in fresh basil instead of dried
- The recipe says to bake them in the oven. We don’t own a muffin tray so we steamed them instead
- These could easily be turned vegetarian or vegan by replacing the chicken with veggie mince/TVP & replacing the egg-whites with extra oats
These balls tasted amazing (that’s what she said? 😉) and I got 3 meals out of them…delicious ones at that:
1) M.A.LT. Tartine: Teriyaki meatballs, avocado, lettuce and tomato slices on toasted sourdough:
2) Meatballs & Quinoa: Meatballs simmered in marinara sauce served with quinoa & feta. It may not have quite the same ring as “Spaghetti & Meatballs” but it sure tastes as delicious:
3) Meatball Burrito Bowl: Brown rice sautéed with mushrooms, peppers, meatballs & taco seasoning…all topped with salsa & guac.
Chipotle who?
And I’ve already got another batch made up in the fridge!
What’s your favorite way to eat meatballs?
What’s the last recipe you tried?
Meatballs are definitely a staple for me. I usually like them the classic way – spaghetti and meatballs with Parmesan. Although I did make open-faced meatball sandwiches about a month ago that were pretty awesome!
Spaghetti ‘n’ meatballs with parmesan will always be a classic :)!
I need to try making veggie meatballs. The whole process is so messy and time consuming but all of you meals are convincing me to give it a go! I especially love the quinoa and feta meal – sounds like it’d be right up my alley!
Agreed about it being messy but at least it keeps well if you cook in batch i.e. one time mess ;)!
These are great ideas to eat meatballs! I’ve always stuck with the plain spaghetti and meatballs route, or my family sometimes makes them as a buffet/pot luck staple. Enjoying them over quinoa or rice sounds great though, I need to try it!
Good call on serving them as a buffet dish- perfect “finger food” :)!
Now you’ve got -me- craving meatballs, and I’ve never even been that big on them! I actually remember as a kid I’d request spaghetti without the meatballs… I’d just eat buttered noodles sprinkled in parmesan cheese 😆 Oh I was an oddball for sure. And I feel like I haven’t been trying nearly enough new savory recipes lately. The last thing I made in the kitchen was a batch of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. Not exactly ground breaking, but definitely tasty 😀
Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies sound pretty ground-breaking to me…they’re my weakness ;)!
I actually made turkey meatballs this week with ground turkey, so amazing and so versatile
YUM! I wish turkey was available here- love it!
Okay, are we post twins or what? One ingredient, several ways! Best way to cook. Teriyaki meatballs sound especially fantastic. Great, now I’m craving meatballs, too 😉 Hmm, maybe I can make some out of TVP…
Great minds, my friend…great minds! 🙂
Ohh I love craving something I have never had! That happens to me with recipes I find. I haven’t had (veggie) meatballs in forever! YUMMM.
This seems to happen to me a lot, especially when I visit Pinterest! 😉
I love Well Fed’s Moroccan meatballs. And I love serving meatballs with guac too – we are twins!
Forget coffee, next time we are going out for a meal together 😀
oh MAN! This takes me back to my childhood. My mom used to make spaghetti + meatballs or homemade meatball subs for us all the time. It’s been SO long since I’ve had any!
I think meatball subs might be the next variation I try :)!
omG K… you won’t believe that I have been dying to make veggie meatballs at home… and I knew it was going to be a bit messy, but that first link may have just solved my problem. That is BRILLIANT! Why didn’t I think of that?
I’ve been wanting to work on a recipe… hopefully soon.
Thanks for the tip!
I don’t eat beef, so veggie or chicken will have to suffice.
Yay glad this helps- hope you give it a shot! I made mine with chicken mince and it tasted great :)!
Mmm I love meatballs! Possibly one of my favourite foods ever. I love all your creative ways to eat them! I’m a fan of using leftover meatballs in a meatball sub with marinara sauce and melty cheese. 😀 But my favourite way to eat them is just the classic way with spaghetti and marinara sauce.
The last new recipe I tried was the risotto I made over the weekend!
Love risotto but haven’t made some in forever- what kind did you make?
Butternut squash risotto using this recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/farrotto-butternut-gruyere-hazelnuts-50400000118577. Except I subbed barley for the farro and left out the hazelnuts. 🙂
YUM! Thanks for the link, Chelsea 🙂
I love all your balls!!! The meatball burrito bowl looks out of this world. I made vegan “meatballs” once using oats, kidney beans, marinara, flax and italian seasoning. They were fabulous! I love the clean eating spin as opposed to using fake meats and all that.
Those vegan meatballs sounds awesome- I might have to try them when (Meatless) Monday comes around :)!
I love meatballs–especially the traditional Swedish meatball recipe I grew up on. My mom used to make them once/month, and would serve them with mashed potatoes and gravy. Comfort food at it’s finest! Over the years my meatball horizons have expanded considerably though (heh), to include chicken, buffalo and even ostrich! My favorite combination is chicken + spinach + feta, and I enjoy eating them solo, alongside whatever my heart desires. The big BUT here though is that I’ve never made meatballs myself! There are so many great organic brands available at Whole Foods, I always end up going to easy route. You *may* have convinced me to give this recipe a try, though; they look delicious!
You are quite the meatball connoisseur, Sara! I’ve been wanting to try ostrich for a long time- I’ve heard great things about it! 🙂
I actually had chicken meatballs tonight!! I’ve got to try these though because seriously my husband will only eat chicken breast as his protein source and it drives me crazy. It gets so boring, so I’m always cooking two different meals. This one I think we woukd both eat!
I’m almost certain that these meatballs are husband-friendly- do give them a shot!
i love your creativity here. i have used leftover meatballs before on top of a baked sweet potato with marinara – sounds weird, but it totally worked!
Oh that doesn’t sound weird at all….if anything I want to try it out ASAP :)!
Never tried meatballs. Now I am so tempted to make these ! Recipe sounds fab.
These are the perfect recipe to get your first taste of meatballs :)!
Yum! I LOVE meatballs..they’re so versatile, super easy to make, and so satisfying!
I must say, I’ve never steamed them before though! Esp the meatballs & quinoa caught my attention! Hope you’re doing well! I absolutely LOVED the picture of you and the girls in fancy dresses on instagram yesterday 😉
Ah you’re so sweet Min…thanks so much :)!
I love meatballs- especially when they are healthy! Great meal ideas too! I wouldn’t have thought of pairing them with a burrito bowl. Have a lovely day:)
Salsa & anything is almost always gonna taste great ;)!
That meatball burrito bowl looks and sounds SO good. I am a vegetarian so I do not eat regular meatballs, but I love vegetarian and vegan meatballs. I think that they would be delicious in a burrito bowl. Thanks for the great idea :).
Anytime – hope you enjoy it 🙂
I have been craving meatballs all day. This didn’t help! It’s so cold I don’t want to leave the house to buy meat. How’s that for lazy? 🙂
Cold weather is almost a free pass for laziness…at least in my books ;)!
I haven’t had meatballs in while. I love them but tend to forget about them. Thanks for reminding me that I need to make some again. 🙂
Glad to be a reminder ;)!