Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

Mmm..  Cheese.

These have mozzarella cheese on the inside, too!  Soo tasty.  This recipe requires a mini muffin pan to help make these guys meatball sized, not meat muffin sized :)

INGREDIENTS

1 

cup panko

1/2 

cup Parmesan cheese

1 

tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 

egg

1 

pound ground chicken breast (or dark meat)

1/2 

cup diced red bell pepper

1/2 

cup diced white onion

2 

cloves garlic, minced

1 

tablespoon dried oregano

6 

fresh basil leaves, torn

1 

pinch salt and pepper

16 

small mozzarella cubes, cut from a block

2 

cups of your favorite marinara sauce (I LOVE the roasted garlic parmesan from Prego)

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 400 F.
• In a small bowl, combine the panko, half of the Parmesan cheese, and the olive oil. Using your fingers (or a fork), combine the mixture until it's evenly coated. Set aside.
  
• In a large bowl, lightly beat the egg. Then add the chicken, red bell pepper, onion, garlic, oregano, the remaining Parmesan, basil, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix well with your hands.
  
• Lightly coat a mini muffin tin with cooking spray. Place a couple of tablespoons of the chicken mixture in each well. Nestle a cube of mozzarella in the center of the mixture. Pat the chicken over the cheese to completely cover it.
  
• Sprinkle the panko/Parmesan mixture on top of each chicken mound, lightly pressing it into the meat.
  
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the panko is golden brown and the chicken is cooked through. If needed, you may broil the panko to further brown it.
  
• Let rest 5 minutes. Then using a knife, lightly loosen each meatball from the muffin tin.
• In the meantime, warm the marinara sauce in a small saucepan.
• Serve meatballs with warmed marinara.
  
  
  
  Next time I'll use less onion and dice it finer.  They tasted fine it was just a little too "oniony" for Brent and I.  Otherwise, definitely a new favorite :)  And, as always, leftovers were AWESOME!