Penne with Chicken Meatballs in Roasted Pepper Sauce

Star Q

i.  Complete Lesson Plan

ii.  Stop Passing The Buck!

iii.  Selamat Tinggal Starbright1969

This is another dish which I prepared along with the Murtabak Biskut Lemak.  It has become a routine for me to cook on weekends not least because my kids (and the missus!) want me to, but mostly because I find the activity rather therapeutic.

Pottering about in my tiny corner of the house gives me a certain kind of inner peace as I take my time; from preparing the ingredients right up to the actual cooking.  And with this dish, I went through three different self-healing stages, the penne, the meatballs and the sauce.

The thing for me to remember was to organise myself, so that everything finishes at almost the same time.  I started off by boiling water to cook the penne.  At the same time I prepared the meatballs.  By the time I finish preparing the meatballs, the penne was cooked and I started with the sauce.  While cooking the sauce, I also started cooking the meatballs.  So, everything was prepared at almost the same time!

For the chicken meatballs:

• 400 g ground chicken meat
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbs chopped parsley
• 1/2 panco breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 1 tbs AP flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 tbs cooking oil

Heat the oil in a pan and saute the onion until translucent followed by the garlic.  Once the garlic becomes slightly golden, turn off the heat and allow the onion mixture to cook completely.  Meanwhile, put the chicken meat, chopped parsley, panco breadcrumbs, egg, flour, salt, pepper and the cooled onion mixture in a large bowl and mix everything thoroughly.  I formed mini meatballs and got about forty.  Reheat the oil used to fry the onion and cook the chicken meatballs in batches until golden brown and cooked through.  Set aside.

For the sauce :

• 2 large onions, diced
• 2 large juicy tomatoes, diced
• 1 roasted pepper (capsicum), diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 x 400 g can plum tomatoes
• 2 cans water (use the tomato cans)
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1 tbs chicken stock granules
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 3 tbs cooking oil

Heat the oil in a sauce pan and saute the onions until translucent followed by the garlic.  Add in the diced tomatoes, roasted pepper,  canned plum tomatoes, water, bay leaf, chicken stock granules and the seasonings.  Bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer gently for about 15 minutes or until the sauce thickens.  Add in the cooked meatballs and simmer for another two to three minutes.

To serve, place some penne onto a plate, ladle the sauce along with some chicken meatballs.  Just before serving sprinkle (or scatter, depending how much you want!) some grated parmesan.