Lille Allen/Eater; see below for full photo credits
Simmered in tomato sauce, these simple meatballs are the gift that keeps on giving
The premise of this column is to teach you how to make a delicious single-serving dinner. Consider these tender, herby chicken meatballs a great exception.
The beauty of these meatballs, which are cooked in a dead-simple tomato sauce, is that they can be repurposed into a few different meals.
I like to serve some over polenta the night of and then use them later in the week in a variety of ways: tossed in pasta, sliced on a sub-style sandwich with melted mozzarella, even served for breakfast over rice with a fried egg. The sauce ensures that the meatballs don’t dry out when you reheat them, which you can do gently in a skillet or saucepan. And they freeze and defrost particularly well, too, if you want to keep extras on hand to eat down the line.
Start by drizzling a small bit of extra-virgin olive oil onto a quarter sheet tray or large plate. Then finely chop ⅓ cup of flat-leaf parsley, larger stems removed. (This will be almost the entirety of a small head, another bonus if you often find yourself with wilted herbs at the bottom of your crisper.)
Whisk 1 large egg, ½ cup of panko breadcrumbs, ⅓ cup of grated Parmesan, 1 clove of grated garlic, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1½ teaspoons of kosher salt, some freshly cracked black pepper, and the parsley in a medium bowl. Add 1 pound of ground chicken (ground turkey works, too) and mix everything together with your hands.
Next, grease your hands with a bit of that olive oil from the sheet tray or plate. This will make it easier to form the meatballs. Roll each clump between your palms so that it’s about two inches in diameter. Place them one by one onto the tray. You should end up with about a dozen.
At this point, I like to stick the meatballs in the fridge for a few minutes while I clean up the kitchen. They’re quite wet, so even that short amount of cooling time will help maintain their shape as you fry them.
Place a large stainless steel skillet over medium and let it get hot. Pour in enough olive oil to lightly coat the bottom and let that heat up for a few minutes. Add the meatballs and cook them for 10 to 12 minutes, turning a few times, until they’re browned all around.
Push the meatballs to one side of the skillet, lower the heat to medium-low, and dump in a 15-ounce can of crushed tomatoes. Season the tomatoes with salt (a task made easier with the meatballs now out of the way). Just a pinch should do it. Give the tomatoes a stir and then redistribute everything so that the sauce and meatballs mingle. Let this simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. If the bubbles are too ferocious, turn down the heat a smidge.
Tomato sauce doesn’t need much to be amazing. Just think of Marcella Hazan’s iconic version, made with only salt, butter, and an onion. Here, I do even less: Just the short amount of time it simmers with the meatballs will make it plenty delectable. It’ll get saltier and meatier as it cooks, taking on some of the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
If you want to eat these with polenta — which I highly recommended — start cooking the grain right before you dive into the meatballs. Everything should be done around the same time. (A ratio of ¼ cup of polenta to 1 cup of water is perfect for a true single serving, with a generous pinch of salt and a knob of butter added at the end.)
But however you serve them, know there will be more tomorrow.
Emma Wartzman is the kitchen and dining writer at New York Magazine’s the Strategist.
Additional photo illustration credits: bowl photo by Emma Wartzman
