Chicken & Ricotta Meatball Spaghetti Recipe

Serves: 4
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 500g lean chicken mince
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 100g reduced fat ricotta cheese (deli-style ricotta is firmer and less liquid)
• ¼ cup almond meal
• 1 egg
• 2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley finely chopped

Pasta and sauce

• 300g spaghetti
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 clove garlic sliced
• 4 Swiss brown mushrooms sliced
• 1 lemon, zest & juice
• fresh flat-leaf parsley to serve
• sea salt and ground black pepper
• olive oil spray
• ½ bunch silverbeet, roughly chopped

Method

1. Preheat oven to 230C and bring a large pot of water to a simmer.
2. In a bowl, combine the meatball ingredients (using only half the parsley) then roll into golf ball size balls, placing onto a lined baking tray. Spray lightly with the olive oil then bake for 15 minutes.
3. Add the spaghetti to the simmering water, cooking until al dente, according to packet instruction times.
4. Meanwhile, place a large frypan over a medium high heat. Add the olive oil, garlic and mushrooms, with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes then add the lemon zest and silverbeet, cooking to wilt the silverbeet.
5. Drain the pasta, reserving ⅓ cup cooking water and add the drained pasta to the fry-pan along with the meatballs, remaining parsley, pasta water and lemon juice. Toss well, seasoning to taste. 

Recipe supplied by Tom Walton for the Glycemic Index Foundation.