Zest Salt Cheesy Chicken Meatball Bake with Hidden Veg

Difficulty: Easy | Prep: 15 min | Cook: 30 min | Total: 45 min | Serves: 4 | Dietary: Contains gluten and dairy

👪 Cook With the Kids. A whole grated zucchini and a carrot go into these meatballs and nobody at the table has ever noticed. Chooki's Zest Chicken Salt does the heavy lifting: the lemon in it cuts through the tomato and the cheese so the whole thing tastes brighter than a tray of mince has any right to.

Step 1: Squeeze the Zucchini

Heat the oven to 200C. Grate the zucchini, pile it into the middle of a clean tea towel, gather the corners and wring it out hard over the sink. You want a decent puddle of green water gone. Skip this and the meatballs go soggy and fall apart in the sauce.

Step 2: Mix and Roll

Tip the mince, squeezed zucchini, grated carrot, panko, egg and 2 teaspoons of the Zest Chicken Salt into a big bowl and mix it with your hands until it holds together. Roll into 16 balls about the size of a golf ball and sit them on a lined tray. Bake for 15 minutes.

Step 3: Sauce and Cheese

Stir the passata, garlic and the last 1/2 teaspoon of Zest through in a baking dish, then nestle the part-baked meatballs in. Scatter the mozzarella over the top and bake for another 15 minutes until the cheese is browned in patches and the sauce is bubbling around the edges. Tear the basil over before it goes to the table.

Tip: Roll the meatballs with damp hands and the mince stops gluing itself to your fingers. Kids can do this bit start to finish.