Mushroom BBQ Chicken Bombs

Serves: 12
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes

Ingredients
4 small red onions
500g chicken mince
200g white cup mushrooms, minced (finely diced or in a food processor)
200g Swiss Brown mushrooms, minced (finely diced or in a food processor)
1 bunch chives, chopped
½ head garlic, minced
¼ cup BBQ sauce
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 green apple, grated
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 egg
100g breadcrumbs, or as required
Tub of cherry bocconcini
250g pancetta or bacon very thinly sliced
Toothpicks/paddlepop sticks
BBQ sauce to baste

Method
Preheat BBQ to high, or your oven to maximum temperature.

Peel the red onions, removing the top stem and the root from each piece. Cut an incision in the outer three layers of each peeled onion from top to bottom. Carefully remove the onion shells and set aside to wrap meatballs. Finely dice the centre of the onion.
To make the meatball mixture, combine chicken mince, mushroom mince, diced onion centres, chives and garlic in a large mixing bowl.
Season with the BBQ and Worcestershire sauces, mustard, grated apple, salt and pepper.
Add the eggs and the breadcrumbs, mixing until evenly combined. Add more breadcrumbs if mixture is too sticky to shape.
Shape the meatball mixture into golf ball sized balls, stuffing each with one cherry bocconcini.
Wrap each meatball in the onion shell and wrap with a couple of slices of pancetta/bacon. Secure with a toothpick.
Cook the beef bombs until well browned all over, around 2 minutes each side. Baste with BBQ sauce and close the BBQ hood to cook the meatballs through, approximately 10 minutes. If using the oven, cook for 20 minutes on 180 c
Serve on a plate, or use a paddlepop stick or toothpicks to make meatball lollipops.

Weber Grill Specialist Laura Romeo's Top 5 Mushroom Tips

Nothing says summer like firing up the barbecue and enjoying a deliciously grilled meal with family and friends. Try some of Laura's top tips to get the best grilled mushrooms, every time.

Top temperature: When grilling mushrooms, ensure it's over a medium-high heat (200°C to 260°C). It's the perfect temperature to cook and caramelise your mushrooms.

Get grilling: Cook mushrooms directly on the cooking grill for that amazing barbecue flavour and texture. Save hotplates and frying pans for sauces or sautéing chopped mushrooms. For smaller mushrooms, thread them onto skewers, so they don't fall through the cooking grill. Top tip: it also makes them easier to turn!

Lid down: As with all Weber barbecues, cook with the lid down. This speeds up the cooking time, keeps an even heat in the barbecue, and most importantly is the secret to that smoky barbecue flavour. Imagine your mushrooms cooking in a cloud of flavoursome barbecue smoke.

Perfect prep: Always oil your mushrooms. Using a pastry brush, brush with extra virgin olive oil - never oil the cooking grill! Oiling the mushrooms helps to develop flavours and aids with caramelisation. Keep seasonings as simple as salt and pepper, or get creative and use garlic and herbs.

Party planning: Easily cater for your meat-free friends at your next barbecue. Why not try; mushroom burgers, stuffed mushrooms, mushroom kebabs or mushroom pizzas.

www.australianmushrooms.com.au

Recipe Credit: Miguel Maestre for Australian Mushrooms