Meatballs with creamy polenta and gremolata

Chef Derrell Smith is serving up his signature meatballs with creamy polenta and a spicy gremolata.

Credit: Mad Good Food

• serves

  4

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

If you have leftover meatballs, use them in Derrell Smith's leftover-meatball sub with mozzarella or Italian meatball soup. 

Ingredients

Spicy meatballs

• 2.25 kg (5 lbs) chicken mince (ground chicken)
• ⅓ cup ricotta
• 1 egg
• 3 tsp (15 ml) Worcestershire sauce
• 1½ tbsp Dijon mustard
• ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley
• ¼ cup diced white onion
• ¼ cup chopped scallion
• 1½ tbsp kosher salt

Polenta

• 2 cups polenta grits
• 1.5 L (6 cups) water
• 1 cup heavy (thickened) cream
• ½ cup creme fraiche
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter

Gremolata

• 1 cup parsley
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 tsp (15 ml) lemon juice
• ½ cup olive oil
• Kosher salt and ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).
2. For the meatballs, in a bowl combine ricotta, egg, Worcestershire, dijon, onion, parsley, scallion, and salt together, then fold in the ground chicken.
3. With an ice cream scoop, scoop meatballs onto a baking sheet 2.5 cm (1 inch) apart and bake at for 15 mins.
4. Meanwhile, for the polenta, in a saucepan bring water to a rolling boil, then slowly whisk in polenta grits, add more or less to achieve a slightly creamy consistency. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Make gremolata: In a food processor chop parsley and garlic until a nice chunky consistency is achieved. Blend in olive oil until you’ve created a sauce then add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Finish with fresh lemon zest. Set aside.
6. Once grits have reached a thick creamy consistency, add heavy cream, butter, salt, and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and stir in creme fraiche.
7. Serve with polenta on the bottom, topped with meatballs and fresh gremolata.

Note

• Derrell also serves this with parmesan crisps (like this recipe).

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

If you have leftover meatballs, use them in Derrell Smith's leftover-meatball sub with mozzarella or Italian meatball soup.