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Harissa Chicken Meatballs

Course Main Course
Cuisine Mediterranean
Keyword chicken
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 4
Author Christine Ma

Ingredients

Rice pilaf

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • ½ medium onion chopped
  • 2 garlic minced
  • 1 cup medium-grain rice
  • ½ cup white wine
  • 1 ¼ cups chicken broth

Harissa

  • 2 dried guajillo chilies
  • 1 dried ancho chile
  • 5 dried chile de arbol
  • 1 roasted red bell pepper
  • 1 teaspoon coriander
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • juice of ½ lemon
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper

Harissa chicken meatballs

  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 1 tablespoon fresh dill chopped
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley chopped
  • ¼ cup onion grated
  • ¼ cup panko
  • 1 large egg white

Remaining ingredients

  • 1 small cucumber diced
  • 2 tomatoes diced
  • ½ cup hummus
  • ½ cup feta crumbled
  • 2 tablespoons fresh dill

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  • Make the harissa. Put the dried guajillo, ancho, and chile de arbol in a bowl and pour enough boiling water to cover the chilies. Place a plate on top to keep the chilies submerged and let soak for 30 minutes. Drain the water and remove the stems and seeds.
  • Meanwhile, make the rice pilaf. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Saute the onion until translucent and softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and rice and saute for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add the white wine and bring it to a boil. Continue to simmer until almost all of the liquid has evaporated. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes or until the rice is done. Keep warm.
  • Blend the rehydrated chilies with the remaining ingredients for the harissa in a blender or food processor until smooth.
  • Combine the ground chicken with 3 tablespoons of the harissa, dill, parsley, grated onion, panko and egg white. Reserve the remaining harissa for another time. Shape the ground chicken into 12 meatballs. Drizzle oil on a baking sheet and arrange the meatballs on the sheet pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until browned.
  • Assemble the harissa chicken meatball bowls. Portion the rice into four bowls and top with the meatballs, cucumber, tomato, hummus, feta, fresh dill, and extra harissa sauce, if desired.

Notes

You can make harissa up to 1 week in advance and store it in the refridgerator until ready to use.
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