Orecchiette with Mini Chicken Meatballs

This is an awesome recipe from Giada De Laurentiis from the Food Network. It is Orecchiette with mini chicken meatballs. I always find that her recipes are quite tasty, simple, and the perfect thing to make on a weekend. So when I found this recently on the food network's site I knew it was the perfect thing to make on a Saturday night when I had a little time to make it really special.

It is healthful and much easier to do that I had once anticipated.

You need to start with the following ingredients

1. 1 pound orecchiette pasta
2. 1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
3. 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
4. 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
5. 1 tablespoon whole milk or any kind of milk you have on hand
6. 1 tablespoon ketchup
7. 3/4 cup grated Romano
8. 3/4 teaspoon salt
9. 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10. 1 pound ground chicken
11. 1/4 cup olive oil
12. 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock, hot
13. 4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
14. 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
15. 8 ounces mozzarella, halved ( I just got a ball of mozzarella and ripped it up in to little bits)
16. 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Remember a recipe is just a guideline. Try it......try measuring with your eye.....If you need 2 tbs of something measure one with the spoon check it out and try measuring the second without the spoon. Also if it says you need 1/2 cup of cheese to mix in with the meatballs, but you would like to have a little less to cut more out calories then use less. No one is going to know you made any kind of adjustments.

So start off by putting your breadcrumbs, eggs, ketchup, parsley, salt, pepper, and Romano or Parmesan whatever you have on hand in a dish and mix it up with a fork.

Then mix in your ground chicken and make small meatballs with the ground chicken mixture you have now created. Heat up a little olive oil in a pan and cook the meatballs until they are cooked through.

Then once your meatballs are cooked remove them and set aside. Then add the chicken stock and scrape up all the brown bits from the cooking of the meatballs. Then add the tomatoes and cook down until it becomes saucy and not liquid. Should not be more than a matter of minutes.

Then you will need to mix everything together your cooked pasta, the meatballs, the tomato sauce, the mozzarella and the basil.

Serve it up with some Parmesan on top and Enjoy !!!