Effortlessly Elevated Eats: Unique, Flavorful Recipes for Everyday Cooking, written by Jenny Hurley, features an exciting collection of 50 recipes using simple techniques and unique flavors. A few highlights include Elevated Red Wine and Dark Chocolate Pot Roast, Next Level Cheese Steak Fries, Simple Loaded and Smashed Potatoes, and Maple Coffee Cake. I will also be sharing her recipe for Effortless Chicken Meatball Marinara following the review.
Disclosure: I received this book from Page Street Publishing in exchange for my honest review. All opinions and statements are my own. This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.
Jenny Hurley
Jenny Hurley is a food photographer, videographer, and recipe developer. She created the blog, Sunny with Shadows, as a way to bring together her passions for photography and food.
She is currently based in Memphis, Tennessee with her family. This is her first cookbook.
Effortlessly Elevated Eats
Jenny begins Effortlessly Elevated Eats with a short introduction before jumping into the recipes. She has also put together a guide for elevated ingredients with basic recipes to create an incredible foundation to your meals. There are even a few options for substitutions to save time.
The chapters are divided according to the following: Easy, Exceptional Entrées; Memorable Starters in a Snap; Simply Standout Sides; and Everyday Decadent Desserts. The contents have a list of the included recipes with page number for easy reference.
The photography is also provided by Jenny Hurley. Most of the recipes are paired with a beautifully styled, full-page photo of the finished dish.
Measurements are listed in US Customary and Metric. Each recipe has a headnote with background information, prep and cook time, yield, helpful tips, and possible pairings.
Effortless Chicken Meatball Marinara
The Effortless Chicken Meatball Marinara was Evan’s favorite from the book and comes from the Easy Exceptional Entrées chapter. Homemade chicken meatballs have been elevated with the addition of crème fraîche along with shredded Parmesan cheese and spices.
This combination was fantastic paired with the marinara sauce and plenty of mozzarella cheese. I also love that the meatballs are cooked in the oven with no turning on all sides in the pan needed.
Simply form the ground chicken mixture into individual meatballs (we made ours slightly smaller based on the kids’ preference), assemble over a layer of marinara sauce and bake in a 400˚F (200˚C) oven until lightly golden and completely heated through.
To finish, cover the meatballs with 1-2 cups (we may have added slightly more than two cups) shredded mozzarella and bake for a couple more minutes just until everything is melted and bubbly.
Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving over pasta or rice.
A Few Chicken Meatball Marinara Tips
The exact cooking time may differ based on the size of the meatballs. Smaller meatballs may take less than 30 minutes. Larger meatballs may take more than 30 minutes. Bake until the center of the largest meatball is at least 165˚F (74˚C).
For a full meal, Jenny recommends pairing the Chicken Meatball Marinara with her Classic Wedge Salad and Blood Orange Custard Layer Cake.
Refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days in an airtight container. To repurpose, they can be used as a filling for chicken meatball sandwiches.
Other Dishes
I also made Simple Summer Fettuccine, Flavor-Popping Stuffed Mushrooms, Easy Blender Muffin Pan Popovers, and Epic Small-Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies.
The Simple Summer Fettuccine Made Restaurant Worthy with Cherry Tomato Garlic Confit Sauce had the most steps of everything I had tried so far in the book, but packed with so much flavor and mostly hands-off. It is such a wonderful meal to celebrate summer with a cherry tomato garlic confit base, roasted cherry tomatoes on the vine, burrata, and grated cured egg yolk to finish.
The Flavor-Popping Stuffed Mushrooms with Caramelized Onions, Gruyère and Prosciutto comes from the Memorable Starters in a Snap chapter. Baby Bella mushrooms are filled with a cream cheese mixture filled with crisp prosciutto, caramelized onions, and shredded Gruyère cheese. The mushrooms are then baked in the oven until the filling is melted and bubbly.
The Easy Blender Muffin Pan Popovers with Strawberry Butter were such a fun addition to brunch. A bit of a blend between a puffed pancake and popover, the egg based batter comes together quickly in the blender and is baked in muffin tins until puffed and golden. They are served with a sweet homemade strawberry butter.
The Epic Small-Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies Made Bakery Worthy with Miso Brown Butter were another favorite for the family. This small batch recipe creates 10 cookies elevated with the use of a miso brown butter (so good!) and a bit of espresso powder. They were absolutely perfect warm from the oven.
Effortlessly Elevated Eats is a great pick for those interested in adding more flavor into everyday meals and desserts. The book has a fun blend of starters, mains, sides, and desserts. Many come together in less than 30 minutes while others need some extra resting time.
Most of the ingredients are readily available in larger American grocery stores. A few items that may require further searching include maple extract, crème fraîche, blood oranges, Thai tea, miso, prosciutto, and burrata.
Effortless Chicken Meatball Marinara Recipe
Excerpt from Effortlessly Elevated Eats
Effortless Chicken Meatball Marinara
Ingredients
- 1 jar (24 ounces, 680 grams) marinara sauce
Meatballs:
- 1 pound (455 grams) ground chicken
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup (54 grams) dried bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup (50 grams) shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons (30 grams) crème fraîche
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Topping:
- 1-2 cups (112-224 grams) shredded mozzarella cheese
For serving:
- Cooked pasta or rice
Instructions
- First, preheat the oven to 400˚F (200˚C) and get out a large ovenproof pan. Jenny's go-to is an 11 inch (28 centimeter) cast-iron skillet. Go ahead and pour your marinara sauce into the skillet and swirl it around to evenly coat the pan. Set aside.
Make the meatballs:
- In a large glass bowl, mix together the ground chicken, egg, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, crème fraîche, garlic powder, paprika, Italian seasoning, onion powder, and salt until well combined.
- Form 12 to 15 meatballs, depending on the size you prefer, and place them directly on top of the layer of sauce in your ovenproof pan.
- Bake them at 400˚F (200˚C) for 30 minutes, or until the meatballs reach 165˚F (74˚C).
Add the topping:
- Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle your shredded mozzarella cheese all over the meatballs.
- Place back in the oven for 3 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.
- Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes because they will be extremely hot, then serve on top of pasta or rice.
Heather
These Chicken Meatballs in Marinara look like a fantastic meal. Thanks for sharing this great recipe!
dina and bruce
Woah, this looks so tasty!