MY favorite vegan meatballs!!

INGREDIENTS FOR THE ‘MEATBALLS’

* 2 slices of dry wholemeal bread (crusts cut off)
* 1 medium red onion
* 2 cloves garlic
* 1 tbsp fresh mint (or half the amount in dried mint)
* 2 tbsp flat leaf parsley (use a little stem too)
* ½ a grated carrot
* 2 tsp nutritional yeast
* 1 tsp wheatgerm
* 1 tsp vegetable stock granules (use a salted version)
* 1 tsp curry
* ½ tsp cinnamon
* ½ tsp ground cardamon
* ½ tsp coriander seeds
* 3 large mushroom, roughly chopped (and fried)
* 1 tsp egg replacer (mixed with 1 tsp water into a paste)
* 14 pecan halves
* 3 tbsp wholemeal flour
* 1 cup of red quinoa, washed and boiled (remove and drain when ready)
* extra virgin olive oil for frying
METHOD FOR THE BALLS

Start off by placing the bread, nuts, herbs and spices in a food processor, and process until all are very finely chopped. Next, put in the onions, garlic and carrot, and process for a further minute or so.

Add the remaining ingredients, except for the olive oil and quinoa, and process (whilst removing any excess from the sides of the mixer using a spatula). Now add in the cooked quinoa, cooked mushrooms, and egg replacer mix, and process for a few seconds only, so that you are left with a very thick mixture. Remove into a large bowl, and place in the refrigerator for half an hour.

Next sprinkle a large plate with flour, then make sure your hands are totally dry and floured. At this point, begin to take a tablespoon of the meatball mixture at a time, and roll for a few seconds in the palms of your hands, until a ball is formed. Continue to do this, placing the balls on the floured plate, until you have used all the mixture. Sprinkle a little more flour on the top of them, and place them in the fridge for a further 40 minutes or longer if preferrede, so that they bind well prior to frying.

After this, heat a little olive oil in a large non-stick frying plan, and one by one place the balls in the pan, and allow to fry on a medium to low heat, until they are a nice golden brown all over. Then transfer them into an oven-glass, and place in the oven on a low heat. Now it’s time to make the sauce.


SAUCE INGREDIENTS

* extra virgin olive oil
* lots of garlic finely chopped (4 – 5 cloves will do)
* 8 cherry tomatoes, left whole (to compete with the ‘meatballs’ !)
* 4 tbsps tomato puree
* 2 tins (800g) of chopped tomatoes
* a handful of fresh oregano, finely chopped
* salt to taste
* 2 tbsps HP sauce (brown sauce)
* ½ glass of red wine
* ½ tsp fennel seeds
* 1 tsp muscovado sugar