Goat Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Meatball Crostini

By lisaS

Ingredients

• Meatballs
• 1 lb. ground chicken
• 1 /2 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup chopped roasted red peppers (about half a large pepper)
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 Tbsp. freshly chopped parsley
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• 3 oz. goat cheese
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil (optional)
• Assembly
• 20-25 slices of French bread, cut about 1/3″ wide
• olive oil, for drizzling
• 1 clove garlic, halved
• 20-25 small leaves of basil
• 2/3 cup marinara sauce

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil (spray lightly with oil, if using foil).

To make the meatballs, lightly mix together the first 10 ingredients (through ground pepper). Form into 1-1.5″ meatballs (you’ll get about 25) and place on the baking sheet.

Break the goat cheese into several small pieces and place one piece on the top of each meatball, pressing down lightly. Drizzle with olive oil, if using (it will help with browning) and bake about 15 minutes, or until cooked through.

Meanwhile, place the bread slices on a baking sheet and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Place in the oven for about 5 minutes or until crisp (just put them in during the last 5 minutes the meatballs are baking).

After you take the crostini out of the oven, rub it with the cut side of the garlic clove, while the bread is still hot.

To assemble: Place 1 basil leaf on top of each slice of toast. Top with about 2 tsp. of marinara sauce and 1 meatball.

desiree