Chicken Parm Meatballs

OK, I made these but I didn't make them up.  My friend pinned a photo and I pinned it after reading the recipe.

I made a slight variation on account of the chicken coming in 1 lb packages.  I am actually going out to dinner tonight so these are for my son and his babysitter, L.  They are going to eat them over pasta with marinara.  The only real change I made was, with 2 lbs of chicken (the recipe called for 1 1/4 lbs) I increased the bread crumbs and the parmesan cheese and I also adjusted quantities to my taste.  I reduced the fennel in case my son isn't crazy about the flavor.

Here is the link to the blog from which the recipe comes from.  It's a neat blog.

http://www.dinneralovestory.com/chicken-parm-meatballs/

Next time I may make them using 3 lbs of chicken because they smell really good!  Oh, and I tasted one without the mozzarella cheese and they are good, so a definite 3 on lbs next time.

Here's what I did.  In a bowl mix, 2 lbs Ground Chicken,  3/4 Cups Whole Wheat Bread Crumbs (I make my own by freezing the ends of the bread and grinding them up while frozen when I have 15-20 ends.  I store the frozen crumbs in a zip lock bag.) 3/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese, 1/4 Cup Diced Onion, 1 Tbl Chopped Parsley, 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt, 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper, 3 Cloves Pressed Garlic, 1/2 tsp Fennel, 1 Beaten Egg, Zest of 1 Lemon.

Preheat oven to 400 and line 2 sheet pans with foil.  Mix the meatball mixture together by hand and using a scoop so it goes faster, scoop enough that they will be larger than a golf ball. Finish shaping by hand.  Mix together 2 Tbl Marinara Sauce and 3 Tbl Olive Oil.  Brush this on the top of each of the meatballs and bake for 15 minutes. 

This is how it's written.  Switch to the broiler.  Cover each meatball with Marinara and top with a Slice of Mozzarella Cheese.  Broil until golden, about 3 minutes.

The second time I reheated these I changed it because the meatballs were not hot in the middle.  This worked much better.  Keep (or heat oven) to 400.  Top each meatball with Marinara.  Add a 1/4" slice of Mozzarella to each Meatball.  Drizzle with Olive Oil and add a shake of Oregano.  Bake for 10 minutes.  

These would also make a good sub sandwich.  Warm oven to 450.  Cut the roll lengthwise and add meatballs.  Add Marinara and top with cheese.  Bake for 5-7 minutes.