Spaghetti with Chicken Meat Balls

Pasta || Easy Spaghetti Recipe with Chicken||

If you follow my blog.. then you must know that how much.. howw muchhh I love pasta.. spaghetti, more precisely.. Oooh I feel hungry with the mention of this spaghetti!! I have different versions of spaghetti as my favourite.. but this particular recipe, which I make rarely though, is still very very dear to me. I just find some sort of solace in this recipe.. I know it seems weird to you but it is to me.. I don’t have any reason but sometimes we should ignore reasons and logics in life.. You agree?? There is some sense in my words so you must be nodding…

Moving on, let’s just get done with this recipe.. After all you have to make this for yourself and the family….

Ingredients For Meat Balls:

• 250 gm minced chicken
• Onions: finely chopped 2 medium size
• Garlic: 12-14 pods
• Ginger paste: 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt & pepper as per taste
• Grated cheese- 2 table spoons
• Dried parsley & Oregano- 1 teaspoon each or as per your choice (or any herbs of your choice)
• 1 boiled potato
• 1 egg
• 2 breads (sprinkle some water on the bread, squeeze that water from the bread, this is to soften the bread)
• Some bread crumbs (Optional)
• Some grist (sattu) [optional, in case you need it] or whole wheat if required (sattu is a great binding ingredient, but don’t use a lot, it may make the chicken balls bland and taste more like sattu)- dry roast them before mixing them with the chicken

Making the Chicken Balls:

• Take the minced chicken in a clean bowl, make sure there’s no water remaining in the chicken (don’t use the chicken right after taking it off the fridge, keep it in room temperature for some time, if any water remains, it will be parted out and soak any extra water with the help of kitchen towel or tissue paper), add all the ingredients except the bread crumps or flour.
• Once you mix everything nicely, if you think then only add the other two ingredients as they may require.
• The balls will be little soft, but not so soft that it will break while frying, and surely not very hard, you won’t be able to eat then.
• Now once you are happy with the consistency, make small balls and keep them aside, You may quote the balls in plain flour/ corn flour before frying them.
• In a pan, add some oil once the pan is hot. Shallow fry the chicken balls (about 3-4 minutes each side or the chicken balls start turning brown) and keep them on a plate.

Pasta Sauce:

This is the most important part.. chicken balls may miss few ingredients.. but this sauce has to be perfect okay.. Everything of this dish depends on this sauce..

Ingredients:

• Bay leaf- 1
• Finely chopped/ grated Garlic- 8-10 pods
• Onions- choped 2 medium size
• Carrot- diced 1 medium size or half of a carrot
• Tomato puree (homemade)- 5-6 medium size tomatoes
• Dried Parsely- 1 table spoon
• Dried Oregano- 1 table spoon
• Black pepper- as per taste
• peanut butter (optional)- 2 table spoons
• Tomato ketchup- 1/2 cup

Process:

• On the same pan, by ‘same pan’ I mean the pan where you fried the chicken balls, with remaining oil (if required, add little more oil) add bay leaf, garlic. Let it cook for a bit till the garlic starts turning little brown.
• The add the chopped onions, carrot (carrot adds some colour, you may add other vegetables like bell paper), stir till the onions soften.
• Add the tomato puree (boil the tomatoes, make a paste and that’s your homemade pure tomato puree), I used 5 tomatoes, you may use more.
• *** While cooking the pasta, save some pasta water for the gravy.
• Let the tomato puree come to a boil, cook it in slow flame for 5-7 minutes, you may add some pasta water if the tomato starts sticking to the pan.
• Add dried parsley, oregano, black pepper, salt, mix everything and cook it on low flame for 7-10 minutes. Let the sauce reduce a bit and let all the aromas come together.
• Once the water is reduced, add peanut butter 2 table spoon (it also thickens the sauce), tomato ketchup (optional, you may do the whole cooking with tomato puree, or with a mix of puree & ketchup like me), add little more pasta water if required. (The sauce should be little thick but not too thick that you can’t pour it through a ladle.
• Give this mix about 2-3 minutes in low flame, let everything come through.
• Add the fried meat balls on top. Cover the pot, wait for about 2 minutes for the balls to cook in the sauce, then switch the flame off and give a resting time of 5 minutes .
• Once cooked, You may take cooked spaghetti on a plate, add chicken balls on them and then pour some gravy on top OR
• Take the balls off the pan, add the cooked spaghetti ( of course You don’t want to tell me how to cook or boil pasta!!) and mix the pasta with the sauce really well.
• ANDDDD voila.. this dish never goes wrong.. nothing can go wrong here.
• Ooooooo.. I almost forgot.. You may add some cheese while serving and while cooking, before adding the chicken balls, add the cheese, mix then add the chicken balls. Okay I covered everything.. You are good to run to your kitchen now and check your grocery and prepare this dish…

Say you want to try this today.. now.. Just go for it.. Be happy!!!

Inspired by @Lidia Bastianich