Fish 'n Chix Meatball Nest with Artichoke Bruschetta
For the Spaghetti Squash Nests
1 small spaghetti squash, cooked and shredded
1 T olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1 T garlic powder
1 egg white
1/4 c Gonnella French bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
non stick spray
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
It's super quick and easy to cook the spaghetti squash in the microwave. Pierce the squash a few times with a fork and cook 6-7 minutes on high in the microwave. Cut in squash in half and allow it to cool enough to handle. Remove the seeds and then with a fork, shred the squash to look like spaghetti. Place the cooked spaghetti squash shreds in a bowl. In a skillet sauté onions in olive oil on medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until soft. Add onions to bowl with the shredded squash along with garlic powder, egg white, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Mix well. Spray a muffin tin with non stick spray. Scoop 1/4 cup of this mixture into each tin while pressing up the sides to create a nest.
Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until the edges become golden and crisp.
While the nests are baking begin making the meatballs.
Fish 'n Chix Meatballs
1 Ellyndale Q-cup Quinoa from NOW Foods
1 T olive oil
1/2 onion diced
3 cloves garlic chopped
pinch of red pepper flakes, less if you don't want it spicy
1 t smoked paprika
1 t saffron threads
1 can King Oscar Tomato Brisling Sardines
1 package Greenridge Farm Sun Dried Tomato & Basil Chicken Sausage
1 egg
zest from 1 lemon
1/4 c Gonnella French bread Crumbs
salt and pepper to taste - I don't think you need salt since the sardines have plenty of salt
parsley to garnish
Cook the Q-cup Quinoa according to microwave instructions on the container and then cool to room temperature. In a skillet sauté onions in olive oil on medium for about 5 minutes, or until soft. Add garlic, red pepper, paprika and saffron threads. Cook an additional 1-2 minutes. Meanwhile, put sardines and chicken sausage into a food processor and puree until smooth. In a large bowl combine pureed sardines, sausage, onions & garlic with spices. Add quinoa, egg, lemon zest, bread crumbs and pepper and mix well. Roll the sardine and sausage mixture into 1" balls and place on a baking sheet. Bake in oven at 425 degrees oven for 12 minutes.
To serve, place Fish 'n Chix Meatball on top of the edible nest and garnish with parsley.
For the Artichoke Bruschetta
1 French Baguette, cut into 1/2" slices
olive oil
1 can artichokes, chopped
1/3 c smoked sun dried tomato, drained and chopped
1/3 c mayo
1 T garlic powder
1 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
parsley
Brush baguette slices with olive oil and place in the 425 degrees oven for 5 minutes until golden in color and crispy.
Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
In a bowl, gently mix together artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, mayo, garlic powder, lemon juice and parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Spoon mixture onto baguette slices and bake in the oven 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. Garnish with chopped parsley.
Serves 6-8
Ann Wayne
• Recipes are published as they were presented to Cook of the Week Challenge judges.