In The Kitchen With Deb | Deb’s spaghetti with chicken

Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion finely diced

1 small carrot finely diced

1 stick celery finely diced

3 cloves garlic finely diced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 cup white wine

2 x 400g tins Italian crushed tomatoes

1 tsp oregano leaves ground (spice)

2 cups chicken stock (or 2 cups water with 4 teaspoons Massel chicken stock powder)

¼ tsp bi-carb soda

Method

In a medium pan, sauté the onion, carrot, celery and garlic (mirepoix) in olive oil on low heat for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the vegetables don’t stick or brown.

Add the tomato paste and sauté for another 3 minutes, then add the white wine and sauté until the wine has reduced by half. Add the crushed tomatoes, oregano and chicken stock. Once the sauce comes back to the simmer, add the bi-carb soda, stir the sauce, and then simmer for 30 minutes.

Chicken meatballs

3 tablespoons olive oil

700g chicken thigh mince

2 slices fresh white bread blitzed into breadcrumbs mixed with 2 tablespoons milk

4 garlic cloves crushed

¾ cup finely chopped fresh parsley

1 cup grated pecorino cheese

1 tsp oregano leaves ground (spice)

1 egg

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon white pepper

¾ cup grated pecorino cheese to garnish

To coat the meatballs

½ cup plain flour mixed with 1 teaspoon sea salt and 1 teaspoon white pepper

Method

Place the chicken mince in a large mixing bowl. In a small bowl, mix the breadcrumbs and milk together and let stand for 10 minutes, then squeeze out the excess milk and add the crumbs to the chicken mince along with all the other ingredients and mix well.

With clean, damp hands, roll heaped dessert spoons of chicken mixture into balls.

Place the flour on a plate and mix in the salt and pepper. Roll the meatballs in the flour mixture and shake off any excess flour. Repeat until all the meatballs have been coated.

Heat ½ the olive oil in a nonstick medium frypan and lightly brown meatballs in two batches, adding the remaining oil for the second batch; set each batch aside on a kitchen paper towel to drain some of the oil.

Add the meatballs to the sauce, stir gently with a large spoon so that you don’t break up the meatballs and simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally for 25 to 30 minutes.

Pasta

Follow the instructions on the pasta packet. Cook the spaghettini in plenty of salted water, then drain (reserve ¼ cup of the pasta water).

Place the spaghettini back into the pot or use a medium nonstick frypan. Add 1 flat tablespoon butter and a little pasta water (¼ cup).

Simmer on low heat for around 2 minutes, then add some of the pasta sauce and a few of the meatballs; gently stir the sauce and meatballs through the pasta for a few more minutes.

To serve, add extra sauce and meatballs to your liking on top of the spaghettini and garnish with grated pecorino cheese.

Deb’s tips

Mirepoix is just sautéed vegetables (which can include onion, celery, carrot and garlic) and gives great flavour to dishes. Bi-carb soda in the sauce balances out the acid from the tomatoes. It will fizz up a bit when you add it. This is normal.

You can use any pasta you like. This sauce is also lovely with rigatoni. Europa Deli also has lovely pasta and stocks a nice pecorino cheese. Pecorino is like parmesan, and I really like the flavour.

Don’t use chicken breast mince; it will make the meatballs too dry. Brad’s Magic Meats has really good-quality chicken thigh mince. They make it fresh on certain days and freeze it. If you contact them a day or two ahead, they will make it fresh for you.

You can make the meatballs smaller or larger if you like. If you’re in a hurry, make them larger; if you have more time, make them smaller; they taste just as good either way.

If you have good-quality olive oil, you can drizzle on each plate for presentation and flavour. The dish is ideal to serve with your favourite tossed salad.