If you’re looking for mushy, flavourless polpette, this is not the recipe for you. These polpette are full of flavour, they don’t fall apart and they taste like Lady and the Trump Meatballs on the Spaghetti, if you want to eat them on pasta!
Well, there are a lot of ways to make meatless balls, but I decided to first go with the simplest version and use some already-prepared vegan mince. I have to say I tried different brands since I moved to UK (these fake-meats aren’t common at all in Italy) and I do have two favourites: Meatless Farm and Naked Glory.
I decided to add an egg, some cheese and breadcrumbs and these polpette taste amazing. They’re so similar to the Turkey Meatballs recipe I posted some time ago, you could definitely swap the two! I used some artichoke in the mixture, bout they could be substituted with mushrooms, dried tomatoes or nothing at all.
As for the tomato passata, I highly recommend to cook it beforehand for an hour or so, adding some olive oil and herbs. We used some amazing passata we received with a parcel from Italy a couple of weeks ago. It was homemade by my husband’s parents and incomparable to anything else around.
One last suggestion: use the same recipe to make your own vegetarian burgers! Now, get some bread, and go ahead!
“Miracles are like meatballs, because nobody can exactly agree on what they are made of, where they come from, or how often they should appear.”
Daniel Handler
The Best Vegetarian Polpette
Equipment
- frying pan
- Bowl
Ingredients
- 400 gr Meat Free Mince I used Meatless Farm Mince
- 1 Egg
- 100 gr Eatlean Grated Cheese or Grated Mozzarella
- 100 gr Artichoke Hearts or Mushroom or Dried Tomatoes or skip
- 50 gr Breadcrumbs
- as required Tomato Passata
- as required Olive Oil
- to taste Salt, Pepper, Spices I used Rosemary and Hot Paprika
Instructions
- Cut the artichokes into tiny pieces. Mix together all the ingredients and shape the balls. Make them smaller if you want to serve them as appetizer or with spaghetti.
- Warm up some oil on a frying pan and, when warm, add the polpette. After a couple of minutes turn the polpette uside down and continue cooking.
- When browned, add the tomato sauce (I suggest to warm it up with some olive oil and basil beforehand and let it cook at low heat for at least one hour before use) and let it cook other 10-15 min.
- Serve warm with some bread and salad and enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
30 servings per container
Calories41
- Amount Per Serving% Daily Value *
- Total Fat
1.6g
3%
- Amount Per Serving% Daily Value *
- Total Carbohydrate
2.5g
1%
- Protein 4.2g 9%
* The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
I do have a scientific mind, probably it’s the reason why I love to hide in the kitchen and start creating.
My cooking is healthy, fun and colorful… and really tasty!
What are you waiting for? Grab your apron and start creating with me!
