Thanks to Paula from The Cookbook Junkie for posting about this recipe on Friday. I jumped on the chance to make this as a snack while we watched football yesterday. These were great! I substituted ground turkey for the ground chicken and used a small scoop to form the meatballs. I ended up with 24 meatballs. These could be formed and frozen ahead of time and then just cooked for a little longer. I added some extra hot sauce directly to the meatballs for more flavor. Feel free to use bottled blue cheese dressing; that's what I did. This is a great easy recipe for appetizers for the holidays.
Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Rachael Ray's Big Orange Book Copyright 2008
1 pound ground white meat chicken or ground turkey
1/2 small onion, grated
2 cloves garlic, grated
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), for drizzling
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup hot sauce (such as Frank’s)
3 scallions, green and white parts thinly sliced
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
A couple of handfuls celery sticks
A couple of handfuls carrot sticks
Preheat oven to 400ºF.
In
a large mixing bowl, combine the ground chicken with the onion, garlic
and parsley, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Flatten out the meat in the bowl and score it into four portions using
the side of your hand. Shape each portion into four balls – you should
have sixteen meatballs in total. I used my scoop and got more.
Arrange
the meatballs on a nonstick sheet pan and drizzle them with EVOO. Place
in the oven and bake until the meatballs are cooked through and golden
brown, about 10-12 minutes.
While the meatballs are baking, melt
the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the hot sauce and
whisk to combine. Toss the baked meatballs in the hot sauce to coat.
Mix together the buttermilk, sour cream, blue cheese and most of the chopped scallions.
Transfer
the meatballs to a serving platter and spike each one with a toothpick
or serving fork. Place the bleu cheese dressing in a small serving bowl
and garnish with the remaining scallions. Serve the meatballs with the
bleu cheese dressing, celery and carrot sticks alongside.
