Herby Chicken Meatballs with Orzo

This recipe is a such a good base for adding to – you can use different meat for the meatballs, add veggies etc, change the herbs – just experiment and make something delicious! This one is so simple and so delicious, it was gone in 60 seconds…

Ingredients

• Olive oil ½ white onion, very finely diced
• 500g Chicken thigh mince (or turkey mince)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
• Handful of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• Handful of fresh chives, finely chopped
• Large handful of grated Pecorino
• 250g orzo
• 1 glass dry white wine
• 500ml chicken stock
• 1 small handful fresh thyme sprigs, tied in kitchen twine
• Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C Fan, 200C static and get a baking tray ready with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, mix the chicken mince, half the garlic, herbs, half the pecorino and season well with salt and pepper. Form the mixture into meatballs and put on a plate or board. You can chill them if necessary, but it’s not essential to do this.

3. In a large sauté pan (we use a Staub Braiser which is part of a set – see here), add a large glug of olive oil and bring up to medium/high heat. Using tongs, add each meatball to the pan and let them colour. Keep turning them so each meatball is nicely browned on the outside. Then remove to the baking tray and place in the oven for 12 minutes.

4. Go back to the pan and add a little more olive oil and the finely chopped onion. Fry over a gentle heat until softening nicely, then add the garlic. Turn up the heat slightly and add the wine, let the alcohol evaporate slightly then add the orzo. Stir well to coat the orzo in the onion and wine mix. Next, add the stock and bring it up to a rolling boil, and then turn it down to a gentle simmer. Cook for approximately 8-10 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed. Season well with salt and pepper. If you want to, you can stir through more herbs into the orzo along with some grated pecorino.

5. Remove the meatballs from the oven, place on top of the orzo, grate more pecorino on top and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and garnish with some herbs and cracked black pepper. Serve from the Staub pan.