It is time for the Secret Recipe Club reveal for this month. If you are not familiar with the secret recipe club it is a group where you are assigned a blog every month and you get to explore that blog, choose a recipe, make it and blog about it on reveal day. It is a great way to find new blogs and try recipes.

This month I was assigned Lisa’s blog sweet as sugar cookies and as the name implies, Lisa has an amazing collection of sweet treats. I had bookmarked her double cinnamon sherbet   and her spiced oatmeal shortbread but I ended up choosing her spicy peanut butter meatballs because my kids love meatballs and peanut butter so this sounded like a win win recipe.

The recipe was a huge hit with the kids, even my husband who is not very fond of chinese recipes went back for seconds. The meatballs were delicious on their own but its the sauce that makes everything shine here. The peanut butter makes the sauce creamy and nutty while the sugar helps balance out the saltiness of the soya sauce. The vegetables add color and texture while the chopped peanuts add and irresistable crunch. A sprinkle of chopped parsley for a dose of refreshment. Then get ready for your tastebuds to dance.

Chicken meatballs with peanut butter sauce

Ingredients

For the chicken meatballs

500 grams boneless chicken breasts

1 onion chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cm peice of ginger peeled and grated

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 egg

1/2 cup breadcrumbs ( see notes)

The vegetables

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 yellow pepper sliced

2 carrots, sliced thinly

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

For the sauce:

1/2 cup peanut butter

6 tablespoons sugar

4 Tablespoons soy sauce

7 Tablespoon water (that is 1/2 a cup minus one tablespoon)

To serve

Chinese noodles

chopped peanuts

chopped parsley

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 220 C.
• Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment. Set aside.
• In the food processor add all the ingredients for the meatballs an dprocess until you get a smooth paste.
• Roll into tablespoon-sized balls and place on prepared baking sheet.
• You can brown the meatballs first in a non-stick pan to give them color but this is optional
• Bake meatballs for 10-12 minutes, or until no longer pink. (If you did not brown the meatballs they may take up to 20- 25 minutes in the oven)

The veggies

• While the meatballs are baking, heat a pan with 2 tablespoons oil.
• Cook veggies  (onions first then carrots and finally add the peppers as they take the least time to cook) until tender-crisp, about 5-7 minutes.

• To make the sauce mix together the peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, and water.

• When the meatballs have finished baking, toss them with the veggies in half of the sauce and sprinkle with peanuts.
• Cook the noodles according to package instructions (mine only required placing in boiling water for 5 minutes), drain
• Serve the noodles with the meatball and vegetable mix garnished with some peanuts and chopped parsley

In the food processor add all the ingredients for the meatballs and process until you get a smoot paste

Roll into walnut sized rounds

Bake on a sheet you lined with parchment or foil for 25 minutes at

Lightly saute the bell pepper

and carrots in a large skillet until they are tender but still crisp. Combine

the ingredients for the sauce and add to the vegetables. Add the meatballs and

coat with the sauce. Let simmer 10-15 min. until everything is heated through.

Notes

I browned the chicken meatballs in a non-stick pan before baking them in the oven because I like them to have a little more color but you can skip that step and just bake them for a little longer

You can replace part of the water in the sauce with sesame oil for extra flavor

You can serve this recipe with rice instead of noodles

You can also serve these meatballs drizzled with the sauce and chopped peanuts as an appitizer with some tooth picks

I used Italian breadcrumbs, they come with dried parsley and Romano cheese but feel free to use plain bread crumbs and add some fresh parsley and grated cheese