Vegetarian “Meat”balls

DH and I try to include fish and vegetarian foods in our weekly regimen so as not to go overboard on chicken/meat and I do my best to find tasty things to create and eat. I also try to create them for vegetarians in our midst, who (pre-Corona) might come for a Shabbat meal and this is a lovely option.

I was struck by a sudden “need” for vegetarian meatballs, I know not why. Now the point of this, since I’m not a vegetarian (num num meat and chicken, what can I say?) is to fill the food with yummy veggies. So I decided to go with a sauteed vegetable mix and to add the soy based ground “beef” by Tivall but really, you can use any good brand of plant based ground meat for this purpose.

So start by lining up your onions, and carrots and celery

and your mushrooms and chop medium sized. The idea is you are gonna cook ’em down somewhat till soft but not totally mushy.

Put in a pan with oil and sautee.

Let them cook after sauteeing with a spoon and stirring about for a few minutes and then cook with a cover on about 10 minutes and then take off the fire to cool a bit. Either taste a bit of carrot to see it’s softened or spear with a toothpick to check. To help cool faster, I took the still frozen ground “beef” and added it straight into the pot in the residual heat in the pan and stirred it about.

This helps imbue the flavor of the “beef” into the veggies. By now your mixture should be luke and you can now place into a blender or food processor for turning it into a ground beef mixture. Add the eggs, breadcrumbs and the onion and garlic powder and salt.

Turn on your processor/blender and pulse/chop till Et voila! you have magically transformed it into chopped meat mixture, so to speak.

The texture should be soft but not sticky and it’s quite easy to form into balls. No need to refrigerate this.

I used an Oxo medium scooper which was 2 tablespoons of mixture and I scooped 30 balls from this.

Of course you can use two teaspoons or your hands to form balls but this went lickety split with the scooper, just sayin’.

Now prepare your sauce to cook them in. It’s a tad embarrasing since all you are doing is taking good bottled sauce and adding some hot water to it and heat (in the same pot you sauteed your mixture in) to boiling and lower to simmer and gently drop your meatballs into the sauce. Cook on low simmer for 25-30 minutes.

This is delicious on hot cooked rice or spaghetti, of course!

Vegetarian “Meat”balls

1/2 a package (2 1/3 cups) vegetarian ground meat (soy based) I use Tivall
2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
1 cup celery chopped (about 2 stalks)
1 cup carrots peeled and chopped (about 2-3 carrots, depending on size)
10 mushrooms sliced
2 tablespoons oil
1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs

2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 jar 26 ounces, about 700 grams good bottled tomato sauce
2 cups hot water
3 cups cooked rice or hot cooked spaghetti
Yields 30 two tablespoon meatballs

Direction:

In a medium pot, heat the oil and add the onions and cook till medium yellow then add the carrots, celery and mushrooms. Cook and stir about for a few minutes, then cover pot and let cook about 10-15 minutes or till soft but not mushy. Take off the fire and add the frozen ground “beef” right into the veggies and stir about. It will help cool the mixture enough that it should turn lukewarm and be ready for the blender or food processor.

Place the eggs, breadcrumbs and spices into blender/processor together with the cooked mixture. Pulse/blend on and off till mixture is completely chopped and incorporated and looks like a chopped meat mixture.

Form balls out of 2 tablespoons mixture and place on some tin foil next to your pot. Take the jarred tomato sauce (about 3 cups in the jar) and add hot water to the sauce, bringing to the simmer. Gently drop the meatballs into the sauce and cook for 25-30 minutes. Serve hot over cooked rice or spaghetti.