I am gluten free, but love meatballs. These are delicious and you don't even miss the breadcrumbs. Serves 4. 

INGREDIENTS

1lb ground chicken
1 organic egg, beaten
1 clove garlic, diced
10 slices Genoa salami, sliced into thin strips and chopped coarse
2 Tbsp fresh parmesan cheese, grated (sub plant-based cheese)
3 green onions, sliced and chopped fine
2 Tbsp tomato paste, divided
2 Tbsp good olive oil
1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated (sub plant-based cheese)
Generous amounts of fresh cracked black pepper
1 tsp JF Universal Salt
 

PROCESS

Preheat your oven to 400º. In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, beaten egg, parmesan, green onion, 1 Tbsp tomato paste, JF Universal Salt and pepper.
In a small sauté pan on medium, sauté salami and garlic until salami starts to crisp, but make sure not to burn the garlic.

 

Pour the salami and garlic sauté mixture, including any excess oil, into the meat mixture and allow to cool slightly. Mix together with clean hands to combine. It's very sticky but it works better than using a spoon.

 

On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, line up the meatballs. They sort of turn into mounds, not balls, but whatever. I portion out to about 8 meatballs, but you can always make smaller and cook for a shorter amount of time - up to you.
Bake approximately 10 minutes and remove from the oven.

 

In a small bowl, combine 1 Tbsp tomato paste and 2 Tbsp olive oil. Combine with a fork. It will be a little chunky. Using a brush, brush it over the meatballs to coat the top, slightly. Place back in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.

 

Pull back out of oven and cover the top of the meatballs with grated mozzarella cheese. It will fall off to sides, but you want that as this is what creates the cheese crisp that sticks to the side of the meatball (my favorite part....trust).

 

Bake approximately 3-5 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the center is tested. Make sure they are cooked through, but not over baked, as they will dry out.

 

Serve over a chopped green salad or Italian dressed chopped greens of your choice. My favorite is my chopped salad base of romaine, pimento, chopped green onion, chickpeas and my  JF Italian Salad Dressing.