Mama Mia

Nope am not referring to the movie played by Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried, besides the movie spelled Mama with 2 m's. :) Am actually referring to the recipe I promised to post today.

Except for the oil that I used to fry it, this dish should be very healthy. If you want a healthier way to cook it you can grill it ala burger patty instead of formed into meatballs. For this dish you'd need the following ingredients:

Mama Mia meatballs

***(Yields about 15 meatballs or 8 burger patties)

1 pc garlic, minced or you can put 1 tsp. garlic powder

1 small onion, minced or you can put 1 tsp onion powder

1/4 k. ground chicken

1 pc medium sized carrot, grated

1/2 cup mashed or grated pumpkin or squash

salt to taste

season with pepper and cayenne powder

a dash of cummin (optional)

2-3 tbsp flour or you can use 1 small potato grated (this will bind the meat mixture even without egg)

*Should you opt to use flour add 1 egg, using potato can save you 1 egg though :)

1. Mix everything together in a bowl. I use my hands wrapped in what I call "plastic hands" which can be bought in supermarkets.

2. Add the seasoning ~ salt, pepper etc... depending on your preferred amount. I usually start with 1 tsp of salt.

3. Roll into a ball and deep fry. If you have a deep fryer, make sure that you have it pre-heated so that cooking takes less time, which means, your meatballs will be soaked in oil for less time.

4. For the healthier option, you can roll it into a ball then flattened and grilled.

For the sauce ~ I always do 2 kinds. My children loves sweet and sour and my husband prefers garlic sauce.

Sweet and sour sauce:

Catsup (banana or tomato will do, but i prefer banana catsup)

2-3 tbsp sugar brown or white, but i prefer brown

ground pepper and salt to taste.

1/4 cup of water, add if necessary

Cook the sugar under mediujm fire. Once the sugar has slowly turned to liquid, add 1/4 cup of water, 1/4 cup of catsup. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer under low fire for about 5-10 minutes. The sauce will slowly thicken. 

Garlic sauce:

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced well

1/4 cup milk or heavy cream

1/4 tsp sugar

white pepper

dash of cummin

salt to taste.

Combine all ingredients and put in blender on high speed. Serve.

***The quantity depends on your serving size.

I paired this dish with Green salad :) For the salad you can combine either Romaine or Iceberg lettuce with mango slices (or any fresh fruit that you prefer). Philippine Mango is not available here so I use apples and oranges or grapes. You can also add walnuts for the salad. But for this particular dish that I made, I used what I have available in the fridge :)

My kids enjoyed this dish! Am sure yours would too! Enjoy!