Veatballs - The Meat-Less Meatballs
I created this recipe when we were looking for an awesome dinner that was going excite a staple carnivore. There is a deep savouriness of well browned mushrooms lifted to new flavour heights with the parsley, spices and the richness of nutritional yeast. The texture of the paleo breadcrumbs and pea protein flakes round these out to be perfect veatballs. There is just no way meat compete!So what are we calling plant based meat? Veat feels right to me. We need to find a way to rename our favourites like meatballs. Most of us grew up on meat, and do not want to forget our cultural heritage. Veat give us a way to remember our food heritage while moving away from eating meat.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 400 g fresh mushrooms finely chopped
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tbsp high quality plant oil
- 1 medium brown onion finely dices
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 ½ cup Pea Protein Textured Flakes
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- ⅓ cup Paleo bread crumbs I use home made
- ⅓ cup chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley, packed
- 2 large eggs separated
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 pinch ground black pepper to taste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper or to taste
- ½ tsp oregano
Sauce for Serving
- 3 cups Italian Tomato Sauce
- 1 tbsp Shredded Nutigiano or Nut based parmigiano
- 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley, to taste
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms to the hot oil, sprinkle with salt, and cook and stir until liquid from mushrooms has evaporated. Stir butter into mushrooms, reduce heat to medium, and cook and stir mushrooms until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
- Stir onion into mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until onion is translucent about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and stir garlic into mushroom mixture until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer mixture into a mixing bowl.
- Mix oats into mushroom mixture until thoroughly combined. Gently stir 1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese into mixture. Add bread crumbs, 1/4 cup parsley, and 1 egg; season with salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and oregano. Mix together with a fork until crumbly. Stir in remaining 1 egg. Mixture should hold together when pressed.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours. For best flavor and texture, refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Form mixture into small meatballs using a 2-tablespoon scoop. Roll meatballs lightly between your hands until smooth, if desired; arrange meatballs on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven until meatballs are lightly golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
- Bring pasta sauce to a boil in a large saucepan; reduce heat to low. Gently stir meatballs into sauce until coated. Simmer meatballs in sauce until cooked through, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with 1 tablespoon Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and 1 tablespoon parsley.