Plant Based “Meatballs” and Marinara Sauce

These plant based meat balls are now a staple dinner at our house. These are delicious and relatively easy to make as far as meatballs go. The meaty base of these balls is TVP or textured vegetable protein. TVP is a soy by product after the soybean oil is removed from the soybean. It is high in fiber, protein, low calorie and very low fat. It is also cheap and one bag will go a long way over many recipes. I used the high protein TVP from Bod’s Red Mill. Much like soy curls, you rehydrate them with water before you use them. TVP can be used to make these meatballs, meatloaf, taco meat, chili. Pretty much anywhere where you would use a veggie ground round or ground meat. Many of the vegetarian ground meat substitutes are actually based in TVP so by making your own mixture, you are skipping the middle man, saving yourself money and you are better able to control the quality or taste of the mixture. I use dried bread crumbs in my recipe, but I think fresh bread crumbs would work really well. So if you have some stale bread around, pulse it a few times in the food processor or blender and use that instead of dried. The Mariana sauce included with this this recipe is my go to red sauce for pasta or pizza. It is basic but delicious.

Ingredients for Marinana Sauce:

2 tsp olive oil

4-5 large garlic cloves minced

1 can 28 oz crushed tomatoes (if not using crushed then you mau have blend the sauce)

1 tsp herb salt (or regular salt but herb salt just takes it to the next level:))

1-2 tsp dried Italian seasoning

In summer I will throw in a large sprig of basil while simmering then remove before serving. But this is seasonally dependent.

Recipe:

1. Add minced garlic to the olive oil over medium heat and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Do not burn the garlic.

2. Add the salt, then the can of crushed tomatoes and about 1/4 can of water. Stir to combine.

3. Allow mixtures to come to a bubble then reduce to medium low heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add herbs and taste for salt.

If you taste your sauce after 15 minutes and it is a bit metallic, you can simmer longer or add about 1 tbsp of honey to balance it out. It depends on how quickly you need to use the sauce.

Ingredients for “Meatballs”

1 cup TVP-cover with water to rehydrate. Just enough so about 1 inch of water is over the TVP.

1 medium onion minced

10 medium mushrooms minced

4-5 large garlic cloves minced

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp soy sauce

1-2 tbsp olive oil, plus a neutral oil for frying the balls

Spice mixture: 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp Italian seasoning

salt and pepper

1/2 bread crumbs

3 flax eggs (1 tbsp flax meal combines with 6 tbsp water) or just use 3 real eggs if you have them.

Recipe:

1. Add olive oil to a frying pan and saute onions and mushroms for 5-7 minutes.

2. Add minced garlic and 1/2 tsp of salt (herb salt if you have it). Saute for 1-2 minutes until garlic is fragrant.

3. Move the mixtures to outskirts of the pan. Squeeze out the water from the TVP with your hands and add the drained TVP to the middle of the pan. It is ok if some of the TVP water gets into the pan.

4. Add the spice mixture, the soy sauce and the tomato paste. Stir to combine. Add fresh ground pepper, taste for salt.

5. Remove the pan from heat. In a large bowl, make the flax egg and let is sit for 3 minutes to gel.

6. Add the “meat” and mushroom mixture as well as the bread crumbs to the flax egg and stir to combine. You may need to switch to using your hands. We want to have a moist mixture that easily forms into balls but is not too wet. Adjust your bread crumbs appropriately. You can add some water or some of the left over TVP liquid if it is too dry.

7. Form golf ball sized balls and set aside on a plate. Bounce the balls around from hand to hand gently to make sure they will hold together.

8. Heat 2-3 tbsp neutral oil or a mix of olive oil and neutral oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.

9. Fry the balls. Make sure you allow a crust to form on one side before you turn them. Do not rush this process. If they are sticking, try loosening them with a rubber spatula before turning. I would fry on 3 sides before removing from heat. Alternatively you could bake these off in the oven. 350 F for about 10-12 minutes flipping about half way. They will not be as crispy.

10. Combine the marinara sauce with the pasta of your choice and add the balls on top with a bit more sauce. Top with parmesan cheese if you like and enjoy.

Meat balls will keep in the fridge for about a week. When reheating, use the microwave, the oven or gently roll around in hot marinara sauce. I do not recommend tossing them vigorously with the pasta and sauce all together as they will likely fall apart.