Well its the day after Vegan Mofo - but technically I cooked this last night which was during Mofo.I have been trying to make better use of my cook books and with Veganomicon it is not hard to find really yummy looking new recipes. I feel a bit guilty as I have not had pasta for a few months (I just haven't bought any). I know Nat loves spaghetti and so I got some spelt spaghetti from my parents business with the intention to finally try spaghetti and beanballs. Well its taken a little while but I finally got round to making this beauty of a recipe.
I defrosted some kidney beans but they weren't quite enough to make the full recipe. So, after I ate some of the kidney beans before and during the mashing phase (whoops) I realised I should probably half the recipe. The only substitution was that I used cornflake crumbs instead of bread crumbs (after my horror of a discovery).
I have read that other people have found that their beanballs were a bit mushy. I think my disregard for following recipes and the fact that I wasn't sure when Nathan would come home from work saved this from occurring for me. I added extra gluten flour (half because I forgot I was halving the recipe and half because the mixture looked a little wet). I also baked these balls using olive oil cooking spray. After I had cooked them and turned them and cooked them again I realised that Nat wasn't going to be home for a while. So I let the balls cool in my toaster oven until Nat came home. Then I completed the baking of the balls by adding the spaghetti sauce. I think this helped the balls to stick well together - they weren't going to fall apart at all.
I didn't use the marinara sauce from Vcon, instead I used a spaghetti sauce recipe that I use for lasagne's. Basically, I sauté some onion and garlic in broth (or oil) then add 800g (2 cans) diced tomatoes and tomato paste, basil, thyme, oregano, a bay leaf, salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. I won't bother posting exact quantities for two reasons; 1. people tend to have their favourite pasta sauce and 2. I often adjust the seasonings to taste instead of following a recipe - pasta sauce is a good recipe to start this practice.
We loved these balls -but don't be fooled - they taste nothing like meatballs (which is probably better for me) but Nat thought that it would be cool if I could find a 'meatier' texture for the meatball (he also really wants me to make these again though).
So... what would be a good meaty texture?? I was thinking TVP or some sort of seitan creation... does anyone have any suggestions or good recipes??
12 comments:
First of all, that picture is making me drool. :)
I'm going to try A Veg*n For Dinner's TVP Meatballs soon. She has such a great photo on her blog.
I like the way you did the beanballs, as everyone's comments about them being mushy have turned me off. I think the TVP or even crumbled tempeh might make a meatier ball.
Ok, I just had to repost. Looking at Tracy's recipe, it inspired me (along with your beanballs) to try her recipe for dinner tonight. They were fabulous!
I made burgers instead of balls and my daughter said they were almost as good as my black bean burger (her all-time favourite burger--over real meat, even). My Omni spouse said they were awesome and that we could have these for dinner anytime! Yeehaw! :)
If you want to try the recipe, here is the link: http://aveganfordinner.blogspot.com/2008/10/tvp-meatballs-perfected-fuck-yeah-baby.html
That spaghetti looks aMAZing! And it would probably pair perfectly with your lovely olive bread. Happy End of Mofo - congrats on being such a prolific poster!
Thanks guys - I have looked at that recipe reni it looks great. I can't wait to try it.
Having had spaghetti makes me realise how much I have missed it.
I will not leave it that long next time!!!
Yes, definitely a keeper.
I love the beanball recipe! Mine never came out mushy so far.
your beanballs look perfect, Georgia! glad they held together!
what i do for meatlessballs is use TVP and flour. reconstitute some tvp in veggie broth. saute some onions & spices (basil, oregano, thyme, etc.) together until the onions start to brown a bit. turn off head & add a little tahini (or peanut butter) - about 1 tbsp or so) to the sauteed onions and then add a tiny bit of soy sauce (1 tsp or so) to the onions, too. once your TVP is reconstituted add in the sauteed onions and spices and such - mix well. then add about 1/4 cup whole wheat flour to the mix. adjust seasonings to taste - and get ready to work those meatlessballs! form balls with your hands and squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze them a lot (to ensure they don't fall apart)! then bake on 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour - turning them every 15 minutes or so. that's it! easy & yummy! (and if you find that the balls aren't sticking together well you can take 1/2 the mixture and blend it in your food processor then add it back to the rest of the unblended mix - that should do the trick. although we've never had to do that.)
i love your sauce for the spaghetti, too! it sounds easy & delicious! mmmmmmm!
hey jessy - thanks for your recipe. I can't wait to try it out now. Maybe I will have to do a bakeoff with 3 different types - I am sure they will all be nice and so making them separately would make it hard to judge. This may take a while - I am going to be rather consumed by exams for the next week or so and it will be the more simple dinners that will grace our table.
i haven't tried making bean balls before. i've never even seen them actually. i've tried tofu balls and those were good. these look fun!
Hi! Casalare make Rice Crumbs that are vegan and avail. in Coles http://www.casalare.com.au/category6_1.htm they are a great bread crumb substitution.
Hi mandee- I didn't see them last time (but I didn't look at all the packaging). I will totally go and check that out. Thanks so much :)
I really love my vegan meatballs, and have had positive feedback on them:
http://thriftyliving.net/?p=222
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