I’ve heard a lot about these Heck Sausages over the past few weeks so was over the moon today to discover that the Tesco nearest me stocks them. I’ve wanted to do chicken meatballs for a while but haven’t been able to get my hands on any chicken mince so I thought these sausages (out of their skins) would be the perfect replacement.

The result was delicious. The meatballs are so tasty and flavoursome and the orzo is lovely and rich and smooth. This is a great recipe to make for kids (if you omit the crushed chillies and wine) as it’s an easy one pot dish with lovely simple flavours.

Ingredients

Serves 4 = 10sp per serving (Flex)

For the Meatballs

1 pack of Heck Chicken Italia Sausages (I got mine in Tesco but you can order them on their website too!)

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 spring onions, finely chopped

1 slice of day old bread (or fresh bread toasted), whizzed into breadcrumbs

Pinch of crushed chillies

Salt and pepper

For the Orzo

1 red onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

200g orzo, dried

Small glass of white wine (125ml) (Optional)

½ tsp paprika

Pinch of crushed chillies

2 tbsp sundried tomato pesto

400g tin chopped tomatoes

1 chicken stock cube made up with 400ml boiling water

80g frozen peas

1 tbsp parmesan

To serve

2 spring onions, finely sliced

1 tbsp parmesan

Method

Squeeze the sausage meat of the skins and pop into a large mixing bowl. Add the garlic, spring onions, breadcrumbs, crushed chillies and salt and pepper and give a good mix so it is well combined.

Roll the meat mixture into 16 smallish meatballs. Spray a large frying pan with 1kal, pop onto a medium heat and fry the meatballs for 5-7 minutes until nicely browned on the outside. Remove from the pan and pop onto a plate to one side.

In the same frying pan, spray again with 1kal and add the red onion, frying for 5-6 minutes until soft. Add a splash of water if the onion looks like it is drying out. Add the garlic and fry for another minute and then add the orzo, stirring in until well combined. Fry for another minutes and then add the wine. Simmer until reduced by half and then add then paprika, crushed chillies, pesto, tomatoes and 200ml of the chicken stock. Add the meatballs back to the pan. Simmer on a low heat for 12 minutes. Stir regularly and when it looks like the orzo has absorbed a lot of the water, add a little more chicken stock bit by bit. You should use all the stock after around 12 minutes. Once the orzo and meatballs are cooked through, add the peas and simmer for another 2 minutes until they warm through.

Remove from the heat and stir through 1 tbsp parmesan.

Serve in a pasta bowl and top with spring onion slices and a little more parmesan.

Enjoy!