Goat Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Meatball Crostini for Courtney’s Virtual Baby Shower!
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I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I love being a blogger. When I first started this little blog, it was basically to catalog my recipes. I was floored when I got my first comment (from someone I didn’t even know!) and continue to be amazed at how many people I’ve met through blogging. One of those people is my good friend, Courtney, who blogs at Cook Like a Champion. Courtney is pretty damn awesome. We chat via email on a daily basis and I really, really wanted to surprise her with a visit last weekend when a few other bloggers went, but I just couldn’t swing it because I didn’t have a job (something I have since remedied, phew).
Courtney (as you may have guessed by the title of this post) is pregnant! She is expecting her first baby—a girl—early in March. I couldn’t be more thrilled for her and her husband, Eric. She is going to be an amazing mom.
In food blogger fashion, many of us are getting together to celebrate Courtney virtually. Josie at Pink Parsley is hosting this baby shower, and I’m so happy to be participating!
I saw these chicken meatballs on Tastespotting not long ago, and they looked perfect. They’re healthy, pretty, and full of goat cheese. You can’t really go wrong. Like me, Courtney is a big goat cheese fan, so I knew I had to make these for her shower. I debated on how to present them, and ultimately ended up making them very portable and shower-friendly by placing them on crostini. The bread is lightly toasted in the oven and then rubbed with garlic, topped with a basil leaf, a spoonful of marinara, and then the meatball. I had originally intended on just doing a basil puree, but I liked the pop of red from the marinara, and felt these could use a little sauce, anyway.
I hope Courtney adores these bites as much as I adore her. 🙂  Please be sure to check Courtney and Josie’s blog for the full round-up of dishes for the shower!
Goat Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Meatball Crostini
Meatballs adapted from Inspired Taste
Meatballs
1 lb. ground chicken
1 /2 cup breadcrumbs
2 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped roasted red peppers (about half a large pepper)
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. freshly chopped parsley
freshly ground pepper to taste
3 oz. goat cheese
1 Tbsp. olive oil (optional)
Assembly
20-25 slices of French bread, cut about 1/3″ wide
olive oil, for drizzling
1 clove garlic, halved
20-25 small leaves of basil
2/3 cup marinara sauce
Preheat the oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil (spray lightly with oil, if using foil).
To  make the meatballs, lightly mix together the first 10 ingredients (through ground pepper). Form into 1-1.5″ meatballs (you’ll get about 25) and place on the baking sheet.
Break the goat cheese into several small pieces and place one piece on the top of each meatball, pressing down lightly. Drizzle with olive oil, if using (it will help with browning) and bake about 15 minutes, or  until cooked through.
Meanwhile, place the bread slices on a baking sheet and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Place in the oven for about 5 minutes or until crisp (just put them in during the last 5 minutes the meatballs are baking).
After you take the crostini out of the oven, rub it with the cut side of the garlic clove, while the bread is still hot.
To assemble: Place 1 basil leaf on top of each slice of toast. Top with about 2 tsp. of marinara sauce and 1 meatball.
These look just great!
these look really delicious !!! i will have to try to make them definatelly.
The people you meet through blogging really are the best perk of the whole gig. It’s such an amazing community.
These crostini sound delicious! I’m a sucker for goat cheese also and, if I ate meat, I’m pretty sure I’d be hovering above this platter at the party.
So sweet! GREAT recipe!
Since Courtney loves goat cheese how perfect are these!
Oh wow! No doubt they’d be a big hit with any goat cheese fan… I know I can’t wait to try them 🙂
These look delicious and I think they would be great for catering too. Thanks for sharing Elly!
Oh man, these look good! I love how you served them on a crostini. Such a fun presentation. I seriously cannot wait to make these meatballs!
Elly, these look so fantastic. The ingredient list is full of seriously yummy items and the presentation is perfect. What a great addition to Courtney’s shower!
So as a new lover of cheese I am dying to try this! They are almost too beautiful to eat!
I love this recipe, and it is so perfect for Courtney’s shower. These sound wonderful! We missed you so much, Elly, but you know you ARE coming next time!
I didn’t know you found a job! YAY!! 🙂 What a burden off your shoulders. I’m so happy for you!
And, holy cow, do these look good! They look like little crab cakes! I’m in love, seriously. Adding this to my party menu for whenever I have another party!
I missed you last weekend, but I know it won’t be long until we get to meet! Everything about this recipe screams “me.” I never would’ve thought to serve meatballs this way – genius! Thank you so much for participating and for being such a great friend!
Those look delicious! I love goat cheese. I recently started a food blog, and found yours looking for recipes. I love your site, and it’s now one of my faves! I’ll actually be posting your Mujadarra recipe (well..a very slight variation at least) in a few days. It was delicious. I love the sense of community in the food blogosphere, and can’t wait to be a part of it! 🙂
These are beautiful little bites! Thanks for sharing. You have a great blog!
I want to put those meatballs in some spaghetti too!
Hi Elly! These look incredible! Even though I don’t eat meat, I am trying to come up with a veggie version of these, because pretty much anything with goat cheese is something I love! This is such a great idea!
These sound absolutely delicious and I love the presentation. You’re right, it’s perfect for a shower or party!
These stuffed meatballs sound so good!
That’s a great bite! Pretty — and I know it has to be tasty. Good one, Elly. Thanks for posting it. And good luck to Courtney.
These are like fancy meatball sliders without all the bread – genius Elly! I love the idea of a stuffed meatball, especially paired with basil and garlic-rubbed crostini. We definitely missed you last weekend (like, a ton) so let’s start planning the next gtg soon!
I love love love the presentation of these! I never would have thought meatballs could be so shower-perfect and lovely 🙂
Meatballs, with marinara sauce, basil and goat cheese, that sounds like a wonderful combination of flavours plus she will have all these great ideas when making the actual baby shower. Wish her all the best.
Just tried these… so good! Thanks for another great recipe!
Glad you liked them, Amie!