Tender meatballs made with Tillamook White Cheddar Cheese, served in a creamy sauce with a hint of garlic and lemon. Perfect for an easy weeknight dinner!
In a large mixing bowl, combine your ground chicken, egg, sage, spices, breadcrumbs, and cheddar. Mix thoroughly with your hands.
Using your hands, mold the ground chicken mixture into spheres and place equally spaced into a greased cast iron. You should be left with 8 meatballs.
Before you bake the meatballs, cook the meatballs on the stove top in the cast iron for 3-5 minutes on each side getting a nice sear on the exterior. Once they’ve browned, set aside and prepare your sauce.
Pumpkin Tomato Vodka Sauce
Place your tomatoes, garlic olive oil, salt, and pepper into a non-stick baking dish in a 400°F oven. Cook for 15 minutes until the edges of the tomato have blackened and blistered.
In a blender, combine your roasted tomatoes, garlic, and the sauce it cooked in and blend until smooth. Then add the pumpkin, onion, basil, and spices and blend until incorporated.
Add your cream and pulse to combine. Finally slowly stream in the vodka and blend until smooth.
To finish the meatballs, pour the sauce around the edges of the meatballs in the cast iron and place into the oven to finish baking the meatballs for 10-15 minutes until the chicken has cooked all the way through.
Serve over pappardelle pasta or any other thick noodle and finish with a few more shreds of Tillamook Sharp White Cheddar.
