I’m usually so prepared when it comes to lunch recipes for the forth coming week but having been in Galway last week for Friday and Saturday I was bit behind (and hungover) come Sunday to get my head around an entire week of meals. It’s been a week of last minute ideas and this was possibly one of the best I had all week (though it has been a particularly good week of food, I’ve been on my game!).
I almost ate the “meat” ball mixture as I was shaping them (having your hand in food makes not eating it that much harder), it just smelt too good to resist. Luckily enough that they are vegan as I had a little nibble. All the flavours were there but I would recommend cooking them!
Roasted diced eggplant, a little onion, gluten free bread crumbs, flax egg, parsley,basil, cumin, garlic…shaped in to wonderful meat like balls with ease and baked in the oven until crisp and starting to brown. With all the will power I possess I allowed them to cool and packed them up for lunch the next day (it was SO hard not to mill in to one straight away but I knew it would be worth the wait!)
You couldn’t have meatballs without spaghetti. I served them up on a bed of spelt spaghetti, diced tomato with a little parsley stirred threw.
Would you believe I almost forgot to whip up a quick sauce! Now I would have happily eaten them without sauce, but it just brings everything together so wonderfully and it’s not like it requires a whole lot of effort/cooking; well worth the extra few minutes. The only problem with meals like these for lunch is all the blooming lunch boxes it inevitably results in me lugging with me to work (and up the four flights of stairs…I’m not a fan of lifts!)
Dinner at lunch time is becoming a bit of a trend (and also making my evenings so much easier). Preparing food for the next day is easy, there’s no photography involved just packing up and then dinner can be whatever left overs you have lying around. I’ve been eating a lot of messy veggie bowls this week for dinner; with lunches this special, dinner takes a back seat!
The meatballs were incredible. My second time making use of my gluten free bread crumbs (the crispy baked tofu was the first thing to be touched) and I’ve pretty much fallen in love with them. Why have I never purchased gluten free breadcrumbs before!?! It’s another ingredients I’m sensing I will soon be unable to imagine life without! I have burger and gratin plans!
Vegan Meatless Meatballs
Servings – 1
Preparation Time – 15 minutes
Cooking Time – 40 -45 minutes
Ingredients
Eggplant Meatballs
- 2/3 small to medium eggplant diced in to small pieces
- 30g (1/4 cup) gluten free breadcrumbs
- 1/2 tbsp ground flax + 1 1/2 tbsp water
- 1/2 small white onion finely diced
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley roughly chopped
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1/6 tsp salt
- 1/6 tsp black pepper
Spaghetti
- 45g (1.5oz) wholegrain spelt spaghetti (uncooked weight)
- 1 large tomato, deseeded and finely diced
- 1/2 tbsp fresh parsley roughly chopped
- 1 tsp olive oil
Tomato Sauce
- 85ml (1/3 cup) passata
- 1/2 clove of garlic minced
- 1/4 tsp tomato puree
- Dash of balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 tsp olive oil
Directions
Meatballs
- Preheat oven to 180C (350F).
- Place diced eggplant on non stick baking tray, drizzle with 1 teaspoon of olive oil, toss with hands to coat and bake in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile place garlic and onion with remaining teaspoon of olive oil in a pan and cook for 3-5 minutes, until onion becomes translucent.
- Whisk together ground flax and water and set to one side for 10-15 minutes until “eggy” in consistency.
- Mix together all ingredients, including roasted eggplant and using damp hands mould in to three balls.
- Bake meat balls in the oven (still on from roasting the eggplant) for 20 – 25 minutes, until starting to brown and crisp on the outside.
Spaghetti
- Cook spaghetti according to packet instructions.
- Mix with olive oil, diced tomato and parsley.
Tomato Sauce
- Place olive oil and garlic in a pan and cook for 2- 3 minutes, until the aroma of garlic wafts from the pan.
- Add in all other ingredients, bring to the boil and simmer fro 8-10 minutes until desired consistency.
Meatballs and Spaghetti
- Lay spaghetti on a plate, top with meatballs, spoon over sauce and top with a little extra fresh chopped parsley to serve.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you for this recipe! I have been wishing for “meatballs” and love that I can finally make them vegan
They are incredible! Hope you love em!