Vegetarian mushroom ‘meatballs’

Recipe

Ingredients

• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, stalks chopped, leaves reserved
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 ½ tsp smoked paprika
• 500 g swiss brown mushrooms (see note)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste (salt reduced)
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan (25g), plus extra to serve
• 1 egg
• 500g jar tomato pasta sauce
• cooked pasta, to serve

Method

1. Heat oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add onion, parsley and season with freshly cracked black pepper and salt. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until translucent. Add the garlic, oregano, thyme and paprika and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.

2. Pulse the mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped. Add the onion mixture with tomato paste and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until all the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms start to caramelize. Transfer to a ball and chill in the fridge.

3. Preheat oven to 200C/18-C fan-forced.

4. Finely chopped 2 tablespoons of the parsley leaves. Add to the chilled mushroom mixture with quinoa and parmesan and egg. Stir to combine. Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls and arrange on a baking paper-lined oven tray. Brush with oil and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

5. Heat sauce in a deep drying pan over medium high heat. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, then add meatballs to gently coat. Spoon sauce and 4 to 5 meatballs over cooked pasta and sprinkle with extra grated parmesan and fresh parsley leaves. Serve.

Note: You can use white cup mushrooms instead of Swiss Brown. You can easily make this into a vegan recipe by switching the egg for flax and using nutritional yeast flakes instead of cheese.

Nutrition information

Per serve (4)

Carbohydrate exchanges: 1 (no pasta), 2 (with pasta)