Spanish Meatball Stew
By: Emily Rohrer
Published: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - 9:50am

Ingredients




2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 large onion (diced)
6 cloves of garlic (minced)
Salt & pepper
2 tsp. smoked paprika (divided)
3 large carrots (peeled and sliced about 1/4 inch thick)
1 can of diced fire-roasted tomatoes with chilies
1 can of petite diced tomatoes (with juice)
1 can chick peas (drained and rinsed)
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 lb. lean ground turkey or chicken
Freshly grated Parmesan (for serving)

Preparation

1 Heat the oil in a large dutch-oven style pot over medium-high heat until shimmering.  Add in the onion, garlic and a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper.  Cook until softened, then add in 1 tsp. of the paprika.  Transfer half the mixture to a large bowl. 2 Add the rest of the paprika and carrots to the remaining mixture in the pot and cook for just a minute or two. Pour in both cans of tomatoes, chicken broth and chickpeas.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a rapid simmer and cook until the sauce thickens slightly. 3 Add the ground turkey or chicken and a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper to the bowl with the rest of the onion mixture.  Mix well with your hands and form the meat mixture into golf-ball sized meatballs.  Place the meatballs gently into the sauce/stew mixture and simmer.  Cook for about 7 minutes, then turn the meatballs over, cooking for another 7 minutes until done. 4 Serve hot with freshly grated Parmesan on top.

About

I love a great meatball, but until recently I've stuck with the traditional Italian-style ones.  Recently I've found myself perusing cookbooks, websites and magazines looking for other ways to eat meatballs other than just in a red sauce over pasta or in a sandwich.  I came across an idea for meatballs in a stew and marrying them with spicy flavors seemed right up my husband's alley - of course I had to give it a try.