Baked Chicken and Feta Meatballs

Tasty and delicious, these baked chicken and feta meatballs are made with fresh cilantro and chili peppers and are finished with a squeeze of lemon juice, more feta and cilantro.

If you are looking for a great meatball recipe bursting with flavor that works equally as well as an appetizer or stirred into a fresh tomato sauce, this is it! 

Our star ingredient, the feta, adds salt, sure, but also creaminess and a little tang, along with the yogurt. For a while there, these meatballs were on regular rotation at our house. It’s been a while though so I’ll be making them again soon. We love them!

Baked Chicken and Feta Meatballs

This recipe makes about 45 bite-size meatballs. I use a small 2 tablespoon scoop which makes them so easy to portion and roll. This recipe is adapted from one on New York Times Cooking. 

Ingredients

7 oz or 200g feta

Small bunch fresh cilantro (mine weighed about 3 1/2 oz or 100g)

¼ cup or 50g old-fashioned rolled oats

1 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt

2 small hot chili peppers

1 clove garlic

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 pound ground chicken (or sub ground turkey or pork)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 lemon

Method

Wash the cilantro thoroughly and spin dry. Pinch off the hard stems and discard. Set aside 1/2 for sprinkling on when serving.

Chop your chili peppers and garlic and put them in a food processor with the other half of the cilantro. Process until finely chopped. 

Crumble your feta and set aside about 1/4 to sprinkle on for serving. Put the rest in a large mixing bowl and stir in the chopped cilantro mixture.

Mix in the oats along with the yogurt and salt.

Add the ground chicken, gently combining until you have a homogenous mixture.

Preheat your oven to 425°F or 218°C and prepare a baking pan by greasing it with the olive oil. For easy clean up, I like to line my pan first with heavy duty foil.

Use a scoop or a tablespoon to separate the chicken mixture in bite-sized pieces and place them on the prepared baking pan. Use damp (or oiled) hands to roll them into little balls. 

Bake the meatballs in your preheated oven until the bottoms are browned and the centers are no longer pink, 15 to 18 minutes.

Squeeze one half of the lemon over the pan, then use a wooden spoon to move the meatballs around, turning the browned side up, and scraping up any browned bits on the pan. 

Transfer to a serving plate and top with the reserved feta and cilantro. Cut the remaining lemon half into wedges and serve at the table for squeezing on top.

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the sixth installment of our Alphabet Challenge for 2024. Today’s recipes are brought to you by the letter F. Many thanks to our challenge creator, Wendy of A Day in the Life on a Farm. 

Check out all the recipes brought to you by the letter F:

• Sneha’s Recipe: French Beans Fry - Andhra Style 
• Culinary Cam: Fennel, Potato, and Petrale Sole Gratin
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Chicken Fajita Bowl
• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Fruity Baked Oatmeal
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Turkish Fig Pudding
• Blogghetti: Homemade Fajita Seasoning
• Palatable Pastime: Fake Fatty Pastrami
• Food Lust People Love: Baked Chicken and Feta Meatballs
• Magical Ingredients: Fava Fennel Paratha
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Butternut Squash Soup with French Herbes

Here are my posts for the alphabet challenge, thus far: 

A: Anchovy Deviled Eggs

B: Spicy Braised Ginger Pork Belly

C: Cecilie's Favorite Coleslaw

D: Cajun Chicken Eggplant Dressing

E: Everything Pizza Tartin

F: Baked Chicken and Feta Meatballs - Today's post!

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Everything Pizza Tartin

This Everything Pizza Tartin aka Upside Down Pizza is baked with the crust on top, so you can load up on "toppings" like Italian sausage, onion, artichokes, jalapeños and olives and still have a crunchy crust. 

Back when I had an oven heated by bottled gas, I struggled to get it hot enough to bake a loaded pizza crust crunchy on the bottom. Putting too many toppings – a particular problem I have – meant my crust was often soggy. Sure, I could put fewer toppings but no one wants a skimpily topped pizza, do they? 

Then suddenly a solution occurred to me. Everything Pizza Tartin is baked upside down, French apple pie style, with ALL of my favorite ingredients, so the thick crust is still extra crunchy. Just flip to serve!

 

Here it is, straight out of the oven, before flipping. 

I use this particular pan because it can go from stovetop to oven. I brown the Italian sausage, then I take it off the heat to layer on the rest of the ingredients, finally tucking the dough in on top.

But you can cook the sausage then bake your everything pizza tartin in a large pie plate or a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. You do not want a pan that sticks. And don’t forget to cut some slits in your crust to let the steam escape. No soggy tops, or rather, bottoms!

I cannot tell you how pleased with myself I was when I figured this out!

Everything Pizza Tartin – Upside Down Everything Pizza 

You do have to be careful to cook it just long enough so the crust is golden brown but the bottom doesn’t burn. When it’s starting to get just a little bit dark in places, it’s absolutely perfect. I figure about 25-30 minutes, depending on how many toppings you’ve added.

Ingredients


For the 10in or 26cm round thick crust:

2 1⁄4 cups or 280g flour


1 rounded teaspoon active yeast – about 4g 

3⁄4 cup or 180ml warm water


1⁄2 teaspoon salt


1 teaspoon olive oil 

For the topping: 

2 links Italian sausage, approximate weight 4 3⁄4 oz or 135g 

Olive oil


Generous handful sliced pepperoni – say 10 or 12 slices


1 cup or 110g grated mozzarella cheese 

1⁄2 cup or 120ml pizza sauce


Other possible toppings:


Small artichoke hearts, well drained and halved


Sliced jalapeños, pickled or fresh


Finely sliced onion


Black olives


Your favorite pizza topping -­ no need to limit your toppings! 

Recommended: Fresh basil leaves for serving 

Method

To make the crust, mix 1 cup or 125g flour with the yeast and add in the warm water. Leave to prove for about 5 minutes. You should see some bubbling. 


Add the salt then the rest of the flour, a little at a time, mixing continuously until you have a soft dough. You might not use quite all of the flour. Knead for about five minutes or until the ball of dough is smooth and elastic. 


Leave to prove in a warm place, covered with cling film or a damp towel, for about 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (Pizza dough can be prepared one day ahead. Leave to rise, covered, in the refrigerator. Allow to come to room temperature before rolling out and baking. You can also substitute store-­bought pizza dough.)

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C when the dough has about 15 minutes rising time left. 


Meanwhile, prepare your toppings. In the bottom of your ovenproof skillet, brown the sausage in small balls, adding a drizzle of olive oil. 


Remove from the heat once browned and spoon off some of the excess fat cooking the sausages might have created. 


Sprinkle in the finely sliced onion, the artichokes, jalapeños, olives and other toppings, distributing them evenly. Top these with the pepperoni slices. 


Sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese. Spoon on the pizza sauce, spreading it around gently with the back of the spoon.

 


Roll or press your crust out so that it’s just a bit larger than the
diameter of your fillings in the pan. Cut three slits to allow steam to escape while it’s baking. 


Fit the crust over the fillings and tuck it in all around the sides. Use a pastry brush to brush olive oil over the top of the crust and down the tucked sides. 




Bake the pizza tartin in your preheated oven for about 25­-30 minutes or until the crust is a lovely golden color and quite crisp on the outside. When you tap it, it should sound hollow. 


Leave the pizza tartin to cool for about 5­-7 minutes then invert it carefully onto a serving plate. 


If any of the bits do stick, just scoop them off the pan and replace on the pizza tartin. 


Sprinkle with fresh basil leaves and cut in wedges and serve hot. 


Enjoy!

Welcome to the fifth installment of our Alphabet Challenge for 2024. Today’s recipes are brought to you by the letter E. Many thanks to our challenge creator, Wendy of A Day in the Life on a Farm. 

Check out all the recipes brought to you by the letter E. 

• Sneha’s Recipe : Egg Roast 
• Culinary Cam: Elderflower & Roasted Strawberry Layer Cake 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Tomato and Eggs 
• Palatable Pastime: Easy Homestyle Chicken Enchiladas 
• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: English Muffin Bread 
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Egg Pulao 
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Egg Bread Hoagie Rolls 
• Blogghetti: Bacon Cheddar Egg Salad 
• Magical Ingredients: Edamame Paratha 
• Food Lust People Love: Everything Pizza Tartin
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Buttery Everything Bagel Seasoning Biscuits

Here are my posts for the alphabet challenge, thus far: 

A: Anchovy Deviled Eggs

B: Spicy Braised Ginger Pork Belly

C: Cecilie's Favorite Coleslaw

D: Cajun Chicken Eggplant Dressing

E: today's post! Everything Pizza Tartin

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Jalapeño Cheddar Muffins #MuffinMonday

Slightly spicy and oh so cheesy, these jalapeño cheddar muffins are fluffy inside with a little cheesy crunch on the outside. In short, they are delicious. Perfect for breakfast OR snack time. They are also a great accompaniment for soup!

Once again, I’m sharing a small batch recipe for Muffin Monday, the last Monday of the month. It makes just six normal sized muffins but I must confess that my husband and I each ate two, one after the other, as soon as I took the photos for this post. They are so good! Just double the ingredients if you need 12.

Jalapeño Cheddar Muffins

I used a English mature cheddar for the extra sharp cheddar in this recipe because it’s our favorite but I have to admit for prettier muffins, an orange-colored cheddar might make a nicer contrast with the green jalapeños on top. Does anyone know why we color our cheddar here in the States? I must research this but if you know, please tell me why! 

Ingredients for 6 muffins

1 fresh jalapeño

Drizzle olive or canola oil to grease 6-cup muffin pan

1 cup or 125g flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Few good grinds of fresh black pepper

4 oz or 112g extra sharp cheddar

1/3 cup or 78ml milk

3 tablespoons canola or other light oil

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (We prefer Lea & Perrins.)

1 egg

Method

Slice six thin rounds from your jalapeños to use for decoration, then mince the rest of them, discarding the seeds (if you want them less spicy) and stems. 

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease your 6-cup muffin pan liberally with canola or olive oil.  I don’t recommend using muffin liners when baking with cheese because the melty cheese makes the muffins hard to remove from the paper.

Grate your cheese. Put aside a small handful for topping the muffins. Whisk together your flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl. 

Add the bigger pile of cheese to the flour bowl and stir to coat the cheese.

Now add the minced jalapeños and stir to coat again.

In another bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, Worcestershire sauce and egg. 

 

Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together until just mixed. 

This is a really stiff batter, almost a dough. But trust. When the muffins bake, all that cheese is going to melt and you will end up with lovely tender muffins.

Divide the batter evenly among the 6 muffin cups. Top each with some reserved cheese and a slice of jalapeño.

Bake in your preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool on a rack for a few minutes and then remove the muffins from the pan to cool completely.  

If, despite liberal greasing, your muffins still stick to the pan a little, just run a knife or silicone spatula around the outside of each muffin and they should pop free.

Enjoy!  

As I mentioned above, it’s Muffin Monday, our favorite day of the month! Check out the other recipes my blogger friends are sharing: 

• Banana Pineapple Muffins with Macadamia Nuts from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Ginger & Lemon Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Jalapeño Cheddar Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Lemon Zucchini Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Sourdough Tangerine Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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