Chicken Parmesan Meatballs Recipe

It's ONE WEEK until Christmas, can you believe it??? I can't!
My early present to you is 
this
 spectacular recipe, as promised!

I found this gem...where else?...on Pinterest, and decided to make it for MG for his birthday when he got back from out of the country.

(Technically, mine are turkey parm since I used ground turkey, but who's judging?)

What You Need:

-1 lb ground chicken (or turkey)

-1 cup Panko bread crumbs

-1/2 cup white onion, chopped (about half an onion)

-1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped (about 1/2 of the pepper)

1/2 Cup Parmesan cheese (I used the shredded kind)

-1 egg

-1 Tablespoon oregano

-6 fresh basil leaves, torn or cut

-2 cloves of garlic, minced (or 1 tsp minced garlic from jar)

-about 2 cups of marinara sauce (or your fav sauce)

-1 Tablespoon olive oil

-pinch of salt and pepper

-mozzarella cheese cubes (enough for each meatball)

What You Do:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Do this after everything is already cut up and ready to be mixed (I used a chopper for the onion and the red bell peppers to get them really small so the meatballs wouldn't have big chunks in them which helped a lot. I also used herb scissors to cut the basil leaves into tiny pieces).

2. In a small bowl, mix the Panko bread crumbs, half of the cheese (1/4 cup) and the olive oil. Mix together with your hands until evenly coated. Set aside.

this is not the "well mixed" version.

3. In a large bowl, lightly beat the egg, then add in all ingredients except for the sauce and the mozzarella cubes (ground chicken, onion, red bell pepper, remaining Parmesan cheese, basil, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper). Mix with your hands to combine.

4. Lightly coat a muffin pan with non-stick spray. Put a couple of tablespoons full of the meat mixture into each well of the muffin tin. Add in a cube of mozzarella to each one and cover the cheese over with the meat (should look like the first picture when you're done, but the cheese is now inside).

5. Add the Panko topping to each meatball, gently pressing the mixture into the meatballs.

6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the Panko topping is golden brown and the chicken is cooked through. (Mine took about 27 minutes).

7. While the meatballs are baking, warm your sauce in a sauce pan over the stove.

8. When the meatballs are done, let them sit for about 5 minutes. Use a knife to loosen each meatball from the pan.

9. When you're ready, add some of the sauce to the bottom of a plate or serving dish, place the meatballs on top, and enjoy!

The original recipe says it makes 16 meatballs. Her muffin tin may have been smaller than mine because this only made 12 for me. But, there was plenty for leftovers and the leftovers were even better than the night of, I think!

{Check out some of the other things I've been cooking, here}