We had a lot of fun making this delicious vegan meal of Mushroom "No Meat" Balls, Red Lentil & Tomato Sauce on a bed of Zucchini Noodles. Easy to make, extremely tasty and full of goodness for a plant-based diet. The full recipe is below, have a go!
Recipe (serves 4-6 people with plenty of left over sauce!)
Ingredients:
Mushroom "No Meat" Balls
350g mushrooms, chopped (we use swiss brown)
227g tin of water chestnuts, drained
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons miso paste (we use red miso but any is fine)
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
2 handfuls of chopped Kale
3/4 cup of walnuts, chopped
Cracked pepper
Red Lentil & Tomato Sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, diced
690ml jar organic passata
75g dry red lentil (rinsed or soaked overnight)
250ml vegetable stock
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1-2 teaspoons salt (we use Himalayan Pink Salt)
2 teaspoons maple syrup (organic, pure maple is our preference)
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Zesty & juice of 1 medium lemon
Zucchini Noodles
2-3 medium zucchinis and vegetable spiraliser
Method:
Preheat the oven at 180 degrees
Begin with heating some olive oil and browning the onions and miso paste for the mushroom balls, until the onion is soft.
Add the mushrooms and cook down until most of the liquid from the mushrooms is cooked out. Allow the mushroom/onion mix to cool.
In another pan, heat the oil and sauté the onion, garlic & celery for the sauce, until soft.
Add the lentils & stock. Stir through and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the Passata and stir through.
Add the remaining sauce ingredients to the pan & stir through. Let the sauce simmer, stirring frequently, as you now prepare the "No Meat" balls.
Place the mushie/miso/onion mix into a blender and add the other ingredients. Use the pulse function to mix the ingredients being careful not to over proceed the mixture, leaving a good amount of texture.
Drizzle olive oil over an oven tray. Scoop balls of mixture onto the tray (we use a mini ice cream scoop) & place in the oven for 5-10mintues until browned
Using the Vegetable Spirialiser, begin making the Zucchini Noodles. Sprinkle with salt and toss through. Sit the noodles in a strainer and place over a bowl to drain away excess liquid
Take the "No Meat" balls from the oven and carefully turn over to brown the other side. Get under the surface of the ball & lift, being careful should it be sticking a little. Place back in the oven for another 5 minutes or until brown.
In a hot fry pan, toss the noodles for about 30 secs and then place on a plate.
Turn off the sauce and serve onto the noodles.
Place the Mushroom "No Meat" balls on top of the sauce. Top with cracked pepper and vegan parmesan
Enjoy!
