Chicken Marsala Meatballs

I love making meatballs at home since they are super easy to make and they aren't very time consuming. I was watching Giada on the food network a few months ago and saw an episode where she was making Chicken Marsala Meatballs. I saved the recipe and I finally got around to making these gems. Dr. Sweetpea LOVES Chicken Marsala, so I knew these would be something that he would enjoy. I'm super bummed that I waited sooooooooo long to make these! The Chicken Marsala Meatballs were FABULOUS! They were super tender and the sauce was perfect! I did add 2 teaspoons of cornstarch to thicken it up a bit though. I served the meatballs on top of homemade risotto to make it a meal.

Chicken Marsala Meatballs

(Source: Giada De Laurentiis)

1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons milk, room temperature

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon Marsala wine

1 pound ground white meat chicken

1/4 cup grated pecorino, plus extra for serving

1 large egg, beaten

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced

1 large shallot, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons flour

1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

Preheat the broiler to high.

In a large bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs, milk and 1 tablespoon Marsala. Leave to soak for 5 minutes. Add the chicken, pecorino, egg, parsley, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper. With your hands, gently mix together the ingredients until just combined. Form the mixture into tablespoon-size balls and place on an oiled baking sheet. Broil for 5 minutes, or until the meatballs are beginning to brown and are just barely cooked through. Remove from the oven and set aside.

In a straight-sided skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the mushrooms are brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add the shallots and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook for another 2 minutes. Lower the heat to medium and stir in the flour and the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the 1/3 cup Marsala and stir until the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the chicken broth and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer for an additional 5 minutes to let the flavors blend. Serve hot, garnished with grated pecorino.

***Edit: 4/12/2015 - I have made this for Dr. Sweetpea several times now over the last few months. I have made a few changes to this recipe, and I think my adjustments creates a more pronounced Marsala flavor. I use 2 large shallots instead of 1. I also double the Marsala wine, so instead of 1/3 cup of Marsala wine, I use 2/3 cups of wine. I reduce the amount of chicken broth to 1 cup. To thicken the sauce, I mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water, create a slurry and mix it in after the chicken meatballs have cooked in the sauce for a few minutes.***

***Edit: 6/13/2015 - I made some more changes to the original recipe and Dr. Sweetpea said this version is the best that he has tasted so far. I doubled the panko in the meatball, so I used 1/2 cup of panko breadcrumbs. I used 2 large shallots instead of 1. To make the sauce more flavorful, I increased the Marsala wine to 1 cup and reduced chicken broth to 1 cup. I simmered the sauce longer so the wine could cook off before adding the chicken meatballs. To thicken the sauce, I mixed 3 tablespoons of wine with 1 tablespoon of corn starch to create a slurry. Then poured that mixture into the skillet to thicken the Marsala sauce.

Almost Hands-Free Risotto

(Source: America's Test Kitchen)

5 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups water
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped fine
Salt and Pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups Arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
2 ounces Parmesan Cheese, grated (1 cup)
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Bring broth and water to a boil in large saucepan over high heat. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low to maintain bare simmer. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and 3/4 teaspoon salt and cook until onion is softened, 4 - 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in rice and cook, stirring often, until grain edges begin to turn translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in wine and cook, stirring constantly, until fully absorbed, 2 - 3 minutes. Stir in 5 cups hot broth mixture. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until almost all liquid has been absorbed and rice is just al-dente, 18 - 19 minutes, stirring twice during cooking. Add 3/4 cup hot broth mixture and stir gently and constantly until risotto becomes creamy, about 3 minutes. Stir in parmesan. Remove pot from heat, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons butter and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Before serving, stir in remaining broth mixture as needed to loosen texture of risotto.