Who said meatballs must be made with meat? Kidney beans are one of the best vegetable substitutes for making meat-less “meatballs” because of its meaty texture and high fibre content.
Ingredients
For the bean balls
- 2 cans kidney beans
- 200 g mushrooms, chopped
- 2/3 heaped cup pumpkin seeds, finely chopped and toasted
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 cup oats, processed into a coarse flour
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- handful of fresh basil
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- pepper
- chili powder (optional)
- splash of lemon juice
For the tomato sauce
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 cans tomatoes, chopped
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cube vegetable stock
- ½ cup fresh basil, chopped
Other ingredients
- 500 g spaghetti pasta
Instructions
Bean balls
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the oats into a food processor and process until a coarse flour is obtained.
- Cut the mushrooms and onion. Mince the garlic cloves.
- Rinse and drain kidney beans.
- Toast the pumpkin seeds in a pan without oil until fragrant and golden.
- In another pan, heat some oil and sauté the diced onions for 3 minutes. Add the minced garlic and sliced mushrooms and cook for 2 – 3 minutes more.
- Place the sautéed onion, mushrooms and garlic along with the toasted pumpkin seeds and kidney beans into a food processor and pulse until coarse.
- Stir in the ground oats, the eggs, tomato paste and the seasonings.
- Combine well and shape into balls.
- Place each ball on the prepared baking sheet, about 3 cm apart.
- Bake for about 25 – 30 minutes until golden on both sides. (Gently flip the balls halfway through.)
Tomato sauce
- Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and add the onions. Cook at medium heat for around 5 minutes until translucent.
- Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Then add the chopped tomatoes, vegetable stock, tomato puree and fresh basil. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly.
- After baking, fold the balls into the sauce. Serve with spaghetti or other pasta and tomato sauce.
Serve with a glass of Natura De-Alc Red.