Balls of Nourishment, revisited again and again and again and again
Okay, so I've tried making these 3 times now and I've just hated how they come out. So here's another effort on my part.
1 cup of bread crumbs, I used 1/2 panko 1/2 cornflake
1 Tb italian seasoning
1 Tb parsley, dried or 1/4 cup fresh chopped
black pepper to taste
1 small onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 Tb nooch
2 flax eggs (1 flax egg= 1 Tb ground flax plus 3 TB water, whisked vigorously or food processed)
1/4 cup red kidney beans, mashed
1 1/2 tsp vegan beef bouillon base
1 cup cooked lentils, slightly mashed
1 cup cooked bulgar
a swirl of olive oil and more for frying
Whisk the mashed beans and flax eggs in a big bowl along with the vegan beef bouillon.
Add the garlic, onions, bread crumbs, nooch, lentils, bulgar and seasonings, mix thoroughly until ingredients start to stick. At this point you can add your pine nuts and/or raisins if you'd like. If the mixture is dry, add a bit of olive oil. Now dive in with your hands and really form the dough. I'm pretty sure this is what was so good about my mom's meatballs growing up. Once you see a dough-like consistancy being formed, let the mixture sit for a couple of minutes. Form the balls and let them sit again.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Heat a frying pan with olive oil on medium high heat. Fry up 4 balls at a time, moving them around constantly so all "sides" of the circular ball get fried. When golden brown, transfer to paper bag and allow oil to drain off a bit. Place all fried balls in a glass baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.
Obviously, these meatballs wouldn't work very well if cooked in a sauce. The breadcrumbs would absorb all the liquid and fall apart. But! These are a tasty snack and really good served with pasta as long as the sauce is just ladled over them. I want to work on a "pot-friendly" version of these meatballs which would definitely involve straightup gluten flour. Like if you were to make seitan, the gluten would have to cook in broth for 1 hour. In my future version, you would cook the seitan balls in homemade sauce for an hour! Right?!?!
I got busy and lazy so I bought a package of whole wheat gnocchi and a jar of forest mushroom marinara saue, added sauteed eggplant and olives and called it a night!
Anyways, this is a slightly better version of my first recipe! The flax adds something really cool, if meatballs can be "cool." I think this officially makes me a food nerd? Anyways, this round was more simple and sensible, but they still aren't as succulent and flavorful as I want. If you have any comments or recipes for vegan meatballs, please share! That would be awesome!
Thanks!
jp
P.S. I'm adding this 2 days later, after I snacked on some cold meatballs and let me tell you...they are so much better when all of the oils have coagulated and the breadcrumbs and grains really bind together. How can I recreate this in a warmer fashion?? Maybe I don't even care, I would make them just to eat them cold I think.
1 cup of bread crumbs, I used 1/2 panko 1/2 cornflake
1 Tb italian seasoning
1 Tb parsley, dried or 1/4 cup fresh chopped
black pepper to taste
1 small onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 Tb nooch
2 flax eggs (1 flax egg= 1 Tb ground flax plus 3 TB water, whisked vigorously or food processed)
1/4 cup red kidney beans, mashed
1 1/2 tsp vegan beef bouillon base
1 cup cooked lentils, slightly mashed
1 cup cooked bulgar
a swirl of olive oil and more for frying
Whisk the mashed beans and flax eggs in a big bowl along with the vegan beef bouillon.
Add the garlic, onions, bread crumbs, nooch, lentils, bulgar and seasonings, mix thoroughly until ingredients start to stick. At this point you can add your pine nuts and/or raisins if you'd like. If the mixture is dry, add a bit of olive oil. Now dive in with your hands and really form the dough. I'm pretty sure this is what was so good about my mom's meatballs growing up. Once you see a dough-like consistancy being formed, let the mixture sit for a couple of minutes. Form the balls and let them sit again.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Heat a frying pan with olive oil on medium high heat. Fry up 4 balls at a time, moving them around constantly so all "sides" of the circular ball get fried. When golden brown, transfer to paper bag and allow oil to drain off a bit. Place all fried balls in a glass baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.
Obviously, these meatballs wouldn't work very well if cooked in a sauce. The breadcrumbs would absorb all the liquid and fall apart. But! These are a tasty snack and really good served with pasta as long as the sauce is just ladled over them. I want to work on a "pot-friendly" version of these meatballs which would definitely involve straightup gluten flour. Like if you were to make seitan, the gluten would have to cook in broth for 1 hour. In my future version, you would cook the seitan balls in homemade sauce for an hour! Right?!?!
I got busy and lazy so I bought a package of whole wheat gnocchi and a jar of forest mushroom marinara saue, added sauteed eggplant and olives and called it a night!
Anyways, this is a slightly better version of my first recipe! The flax adds something really cool, if meatballs can be "cool." I think this officially makes me a food nerd? Anyways, this round was more simple and sensible, but they still aren't as succulent and flavorful as I want. If you have any comments or recipes for vegan meatballs, please share! That would be awesome!
Thanks!
jp
P.S. I'm adding this 2 days later, after I snacked on some cold meatballs and let me tell you...they are so much better when all of the oils have coagulated and the breadcrumbs and grains really bind together. How can I recreate this in a warmer fashion?? Maybe I don't even care, I would make them just to eat them cold I think.
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