Vegan "Meatballs"

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We read a book about spaghetti and meatballs that the kids enjoyed.  They then wanted their own spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.  Considering I don't have any meat in the house for a traditional meatball, we tried these vegan ones and enjoyed them.   They weren't awesome, but good.  They were very filling and easy to make.  Rees enjoyed rolling them out and said they were the best meatballs he has ever had.  And yeah, they are the first "meatballs" he has ever had. We thought these paired well with a spicy tomato sauce.

WARNING:  These are not trying to be meatballs.  They don't taste anything thing like a meatball.  They might look like them, but the flavor isn't at all trying to imitate one and my guess is the texture is very different.  Don't make these wanting a healthier but tasty meatball.  Make these if you are curious as to what they taste like, if you are trying to have a meatless meal and spaghetti on it's on just doesn't seem filling enough, or you happen to have extra mushrooms and don't know what to do with them.





Vegan Meatball Recipe:

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 red onion or sweet yellow onion, roughly chopped
2-3 cups mushrooms, chopped or sliced (button, cremini, portobellas would all work)
1 1/2 cups nuts, chopped (we used pecans and walnuts)
2 cups breadcrumbs, panko or regular
3 T wheat germ
1 T dried basil
1 T dried oregano

salt & pepper to taste


Instructions:

Preheat oven to 475°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.

Over medium heat, place olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion and cook until softened (about 5 minutes), then add mushrooms and cook until softened (about 3 minutes).  Remove from heat, let cool slightly, then place in food processor along with nuts, breadcrumbs, wheat germ, herbs, salt and pepper. Process until mixture is smooth and add more breadcrumbs if too sticky.  Taste and adjust seasoning.

Shape mixture into balls, about 1 inch in size and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until meatballs start to brown.

Serve warm.

I think we ended up with about 24 meatballs.

Comments

  1. JoshandMegs4/13/2012

    Well we love mushrooms, so I am excited about this recipe. Thank you for posting it!

    ReplyDelete

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