Orecchiette and Chicken Meatballs

I made pasta with chicken meatballs for my little dinner party on Sunday. It took a long time and rendered my kitchen a big mess of dirty pots and dishes, but it was worth it because it was surprisingly good. There's something really satisfying about making meatballs....mixing the lifeless ground meat with breadcrumbs and parsley and turning it into something that's hearty and satisfying is really fun.

I've never made a pasta dish with orecchiette...it seems like it's always placed on the highest shelf in the grocery store...the shelf that i can't reach. It's got an interesting texture and a bit more interesting looking than your everyday ziti or rotini.

Ingredients:
1 box of orecchiette pasta
1 pound of ground chicken
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup of bread crumbs
1 tablespoon of ketchup
1 tablespoon of milk
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 cup of grated parmesan cheese
5 cups of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup of chicken stock
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
a bunch of basil leaves, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

Meatballs:
Mix the ground chicken, 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese, parsley, bread crumbs, eggs, milk, ketchup, salt and pepper together and mix well
Heat the olive oil in a large pot, roll the mixture into small balls, fry on both sides for two minutes each, in batches

Sauce:
Add the tomatoes and chicken stock in the same pot and bring to a boil
Return the meatballs back into the pot, simmer sauce and the meatballs for another 15-20 minutes.
Add the cornstarch to thicken the sauce

Pasta:
Cook the pasta according to the instructions, drain the pasta and reserve a 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid
Add the remaining parmesan cheese to the pasta and add a little bit of the cooking liquid
Add the meatballs, sauce and chopped basil leaves and mix well