MAKE IT CUTE

Recipes

Chicken Meatballs

Looking for delicious recipes to cook up and wow your fam this evening?
 
Meet Liz Rupp, she’s a student by day and a total wiz in the kitchen by night! Here, she shares one of her all time fave recipes.


What you’ll need:
1 lb lean ground chicken
1 container store bought basil pesto
1/3 cup parmesan
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste
Roasted red peppers
Chopped onion
2 Tblsp of minced garlic


What you’ll do:
Mix all ingredients with your hands. Pound into balls a little larger than a golf ball (like making a snow ball). Have your oven set to 350 degrees so it can pre-heat.
 
Sear meatballs in pan with a little bit of olive oil (not cooked all the way through, this is just to get a crispy browning on the outside). Try to turn in pan to get “crunchy crust” all around.

Put in Pyrex dish (glass corning ware that brownies and things are cooked in the oven with) and cook at 350 degrees with a light balsamic vinaigrette dressing drizzled on top. Cook until meatballs aren’t pink in the middle, which should be about 10-15 minutes.

Read on to see how Liz got her start and passion for cooking! 

How did you first get started cooking?
My parents worked a lot, so I just wanted to help out to get dinner on the table before the sunset! I’m the oldest of four daughters, so it was kind of my duty to play mom if no one else was home.

What is your favorite thing to cook?
I was watching the Food Network and found this amazing recipe for creamy mac ‘n’ cheese. It is delicious; I love throwing in my own random ingredients like bacon to spruce up the recipe.

What is something unique about your cooking style?
I rarely use measurements. I add things like salt and pepper “to taste” as they say, and often use “palmfuls” as my measuring device!

Do you have any influences in your cooking preferences?
Oh yeah! I’m from San Diego. I’m used to everything being very fresh, especially Mexican food. I definitely got into the whole Baja Californian flavor.

If you could always have one ingredient to cook with that you can’t live without, what would that be?
Cilantro!

What do you cook cilantro with?
A lot of things! Well, it’s best on Mexican food, barbeque chicken pizza, chicken, stuff like that. Really I like having any fresh herb, though, like basil. 

Is there one dish that you’d love to make but haven’t tackled yet?
Paella. (A Spanish dish that can combine white rice, meat, seafood, vegetables, beans, or even snails!)

By: Liz Rupp and Hallie Rybka

POSTED IN

4/23/2010 7:00:00 AM
share