Chicken meatballs in fragrant tomato sauce

Easy and delicious this recipe will satisfy the kids and the whole family! Lighter in taste and in calories than the classic meatballs, this will become one of your favourite Weekend recipes. Quite a versatile dish since it can be served with rice, pasta or fries

Adapted from "Cook Book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper

Ingredients (for 4 people)

For the meatballs:
800gr. ground chicken (from legs and breast)
2 stale bread slices
2 eggs
½ a bunch of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 tea-cup of finely chopped fresh spearmint
1 yellow onion, grated
1 pinch of ground cumin
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of white pepper
2 tbsp of all-purpose flour
flour and cooking oil for the frying

For the sauce:
6 large ripe tomatoes, grated
2 red bell peppers, cut in small cubes
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 pinch of sugar
salt
pepper

Method:
Put in a large bowl the ground chicken along with the bread (previously soaked in water and well squeezed). Add the onion, the parsley, the spearmint, the eggs, the cumin, the salt and the pepper. Grease well your hands with some oil (the ground chicken tends to stick on the hands) and knead until the mixture is well blended. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Shape the mixture into round balls and slightly pass them through the flour. Warm the oil in a large frying pan on medium-high heat and fry the balls for about 10-12 minutes, carefully turning them around so to get lightly coloured on all sides. Transfer with a slotted spoon on kitchen paper and leave to drain the excess oil.

In a deep frying pan warm some olive oil in medium-high heat and sauté the peppers and the garlic until they start getting soft but not browned. Add in the pan the tomatoes, the sugar, salt and pepper, turn the heat to medium and cook the sauce for 30 minutes or until most of the liquids are gone but not completely.

Add the chicken balls into the sauce and cook for another 5-6 minutes, gently turning so to cover with the sauce. Serve while the food is still hot.