Tag Archives: mozzarella

Puttin’ on the Ritz with Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

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Considering that both chicken Parmesan and meatballs with marinara are popular choices, why commit yourself to just one? Here, Cook’s Country captures the best flavors of both dishes while minimizing the effort—and with fabulous results I must report. The Hubs is already planning to remake them for an upcoming retreat.

Starting with the meatballs, they use a flavorful mixture of Parmesan cheese, dried oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to perk up the flavor of mild ground chicken. When shaping the meatballs, it’s a good practice to keep a small bowl of water nearby to dunk your fingertips in, it helps keep the mixture from sticking to your hands.

In place of a panade (a seasoned mix of starch and liquid), crushed Ritz Crackers (we used the garlic butter variety) and an egg are stirred into the ground chicken. This paste adds enough structure to skip the browning step (which helps meatballs hold together) and still have meatballs that hold their shape and remain tender.

The sauce is kept simple with seasoned crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce with a generous amount of fresh garlic, dried oregano, and pepper flakes. After a brief simmer, pour the sauce over the meatballs and top it with a crown of mozzarella (for its gooey meltability) prior to baking. When the saucy meatballs finally emerged from the oven, a sprinkle of savory Parmesan cheese, crunchy panko, and fragrant basil impart that familiar chicken Parmesan vibe.

You can make this dish ahead up to the point of topping with the shredded mozzarella. Cover and refrigerate until ready to bake. Bring to room temperature as you preheat the oven, then continue with the remaining directions. Remember, the dish will need to rest for 15 minutes before you add the panko/parm topping.

As there was already crushed crackers and panko topping involved, I opted to serve the meatballs simply with a side of fresh green beans and a tossed salad. But if you’re not concerned with carbs, or want to stretch the meal, you can add cooked pasta and some crusty bread to help sop up all of the wonderful sauce.

Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 5 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 5 garlic cloves, sliced thin
  • 1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
  • 2¼ tsp. dried oregano, divided
  • 1½ tsp. table salt, divided
  • ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
  • 22 Ritz crackers
  • 5 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated (2½ cups), divided
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. pepper
  • 2 lbs. ground chicken
  • 8 oz. whole-milk block mozzarella cheese, shredded (2 cups)
  • 1 cup panko bread crumbs
  • ¼ cup torn fresh basil

Directions

  1. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add sliced garlic and cook until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
  2. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, ¼ teaspoon oregano, ¼ teaspoon salt, and pepper flakes. Bring to simmer; reduce heat to medium-low; and cook until slightly thickened, 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.
  3. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Place crackers in large zipper-lock bag, seal bag, and crush fine with rolling pin (you should have about 1 cup crumbs).
  4. Combine crumbs, 2 cups Parmesan, egg, garlic powder, pepper, remaining 2 teaspoons oregano, and 1 teaspoon salt in large bowl. Add chicken and mix with your hands until thoroughly combined.
  5. Divide mixture into 20 portions (about ¼ cup each). Using your hands, roll each portion into ball, and transfer to 13 by 9-inch baking dish.
  6. Pour sauce over meatballs, then sprinkle with mozzarella. Bake until meatballs register at least 160 degrees and mozzarella is melted and beginning to brown, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes.
  7. Meanwhile, combine panko, remaining 2 tablespoons oil, and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt in bowl. Microwave until panko is light golden brown, 1 to 3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds.
  8. Sprinkle meatballs with panko mixture, remaining ½ cup Parmesan, and basil. Serve.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Recipe from Cook’s Country

Mozzarella Mushroom Stuffed Chicken

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If chicken breasts brimming with lots of flavor is one of your goals, then this recipe is for you. Golden, crusty chicken on the outside; juicy and buttery on the inside; filled with two different types of cheeses, with the most delicious garlic butter mushrooms.

If there is not enough butter left in the pan after making the mushrooms, heat 1 tablespoon of butter in the pan and when it is done foaming, sear two breasts at a time for about 3 minutes per side. Repeat with the other two pieces of poultry.

And if you so choose, there’s an additional Garlic Parmesan Cream Sauce to take it over the top, which we opted not to make. Rather, we deglazed the pan with dry vermouth (wine) when finished browning the stuffed breasts. Before the wine fully evaporates, add the poultry back into the pan with accumulated juices, cover and cook for the allotted 20 minutes.

Most likely, you will have some seepage of cheese oozing out into the pan, as you can see on the right-most two pieces in the top photo. But don’t waste it, use that along with the brown juices to pour over over your platter of chicken.

And because we couldn’t possibly stuff any more ingredients into the slits after the mozzarella and mushrooms, we saved the grated parm for a topping. Sprinkle equal amounts over each breasts, return to the oven for two minutes, then top with a few leftover mushroom slices. We paired ours with a homemade rice pilaf and steamed green beans with a garlic butter finish.

Mozzarella Mushroom Stuffed Chicken

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

Mushrooms:

  • 4 Tbsp. butter
  • 8 oz. brown mushrooms, sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley chopped
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Chicken:

  • 4 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless
  • Salt and pepper, to season
  • 1 tsp. onion powder
  • 1 tsp. dried parsley
  • 2 Tbsp. butter, divided
  • 8 slices mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup dry vermouth or white wine, optional
  • 12 toothpicks to seal the stuffed breasts

Garlic Parmesan Cream Sauce:

  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 large cloves garlic minced or finely chopped
  • 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • 1-1/2 cups half and half or use reduced fat cream or evaporated milk*
  • 1/2 cup finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese
  • Salt and pepper, to your tastes
  • 1/2 tsp. cornstarch cornflour mixed with 2 teaspoons of water, optional
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley

Directions

Chicken:

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
  2. Melt butter in a large oven proof pan or skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add in mushrooms, salt and pepper (to your tastes), and parsley. Cook while stirring occasionally until soft. Set aside and allow to cool while preparing your chicken.
  3. Pat breasts dry with a paper towel. Season with salt, pepper, onion powder and dried parsley. Rub each piece to evenly coat in seasoning. 
  4. Horizontally slice a slit through the thickest part of each breast to form a pocket. Fold and place 2 slices of mozzarella into each breast pocket. 
  5. Divide the mushroom mixture into four equal portions and fill each breast with the mushroom mixture (leave the juices in the pan for later. If there are any left over mushrooms, don’t worry. You’ll use them later). Top the mushroom mixture with 1 tablespoon of parmesan cheese per breast. Seal with two or three toothpicks near the opening to keep the mushrooms inside while cooking.
  6. Heat the same pan the mushrooms were in along with the pan juices (the garlic butter will start to brown and take on a ‘nutty’ flavor). Add the chicken and sear until golden. Flip and sear on the other side until golden; about 3 minutes per side. You may have to do this in two batches so that the meat sears instead of steams.
  7. OPTIONAL: With pan empty, add 1/4 cup dry vermouth or white wine into hot pan and stir to loosen fond and browned bits. Return chicken and any accumulated juices to the pan.
  8. Cover tightly and continue cooking in preheated oven for a further 20 minutes, or until completely cooked through the middle and no longer pink.
  9. Move to serving platter and remove toothpicks. Serve, with pan juices and any remaining mushrooms, on top of pasta, rice or steamed vegetables.
  10. To make the optional cream sauce, transfer chicken to a warm plate, keeping all juices in the pan.

Sauce:

  1. Fry the garlic in the leftover pan juices until fragrant, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to low heat, and add the mustard and half and half (or cream). 
  2. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer and add in any remaining mushrooms and parmesan cheese. Allow the sauce to simmer until the parmesan cheese has melted slightly. If the sauce is too runny for your liking, add the cornstarch/water mixture into the center of the pan and mix through fast to combine into the sauce. It will begin to thicken immediately.
  3. Season with a little salt and pepper to your taste. Add in the parsley and the chicken back into the pan to serve.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Adapted from a recipe by Karina of cafedelites