Chicken Spinach Meatballs with Quinoa

Recipe by Helen Tzouganatos

Ingredients:

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Chicken & Spinach Meatballs

500g organic chicken mince
1 sebago potato, peeled and very finely grated, excess moisture squeezed out
2 large handfuls of baby spinach leaves, finely chopped
3 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 organic egg
Finely grated zest of 1 small lemon
2 tsp ground cumin

Pinch of sea salt flakes and cracked pepper

Rich Tomato Sauce

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 brown onion, diced
400ml tomato passata
125ml (½ cup) gluten-free chicken stock

Quinoa, to serve

Method:

To make the meatballs, place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well by hand. Refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes to firm up, then roll it into about 16 meatballs. I find it helpful to wet or oil my hands prior to rolling to prevent the mince from sticking to my fingers.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Sear the meatballs for 2-3 minutes, rotating them frequently until golden. Remove from the pan and set aside.

For the rich tomato sauce, heat the olive oil in the same pan and sauté the onion for 2-3 minutes until softened, stirring to release any caramelised bits caught on the base of the pan. Add the remaining ingredients, season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.

Return the meatballs to the pan and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and the meatballs are cooked through. Serve with quinoa.