Chicken Meatballs with Carrot & Tomato Sauce

An ode to her most popular recipe, and the recipe that kick-started my career – author and food expert Annabel Karmel's Chicken and Apple Balls! A fantastic dish for the whole family; the deliciously smooth and summery blended tomato and carrot sauce is one you’ll come back to again and again. It’s one to add to your recipe repertoire!

Prep: 25 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes
Makes: 28 balls


--WHAT YOU'LL NEED--

1 slice white bread
1 onion, chopped
½ apple, peeled and grated
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp chopped sage
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
25g Parmesan cheese, grated
200g chicken thigh, diced

Sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
2 banana shallots, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
400g carrots, peeled and sliced
500ml chicken stock
400g chopped tomato
1 tbsp tomato puree


--STEP 1--

To make the meatballs. Put the bread into a food processor. Whiz until finely chopped. Tip into a bowl.

--STEP 2--

Put the chicken into the processor. Whizz until chopped. Add the apple, onion, garlic, herbs, Parmesan and breadcrumbs. Season and whiz until well mixed. Shape into 28 balls.

--STEP 3--

To make the sauce. Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the shallots and fry for 2 minutes.

--STEP 4--

Add the carrots and garlic and fry for 2 minutes. Add the tomato puree and stock.

--STEP 5--

Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes until the carrots are soft.

--STEP 6--

Blend until smooth using a stick blender. Add the tomatoes and simmer for another 10 minutes.

--STEP 7--

Fry the chicken balls in a little oil for about five minutes until golden and then simmer in the blended sauce for about 5 minutes or until cooked through and serve with rice.