Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Spaghetti With Not-Meatballs

During the week I really don't feel like cooking dishes that take a lot of time. On the weekends, however, I enjoy trying out new recipes and spending more time in the kitchen preparing for the week ahead. Last weekend I found a recipe for vegetarian meatballs that I just had to try. Since I had plenty of time on Sunday, I decided to make spaghetti with these "not-meatballs." I made my own marinara sauce using this recipe, but of course jarred marinara would be fine as well.


Vegan Meatballs
Adapted from Ricki Heller @ Veg News

Makes about 24 balls

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1-1/2 cups lightly toasted walnuts
1-1/2 cups cooked brown rice
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon dried basil (I used fresh basil)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (I used fresh oregano)
1/4 teaspoon dried sage (I used fresh sage)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons flour

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
2) Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onions are golden, about 10 minutes. In a food processor, combine remaining ingredients and process until almost smooth. Add onion-garlic mixture and process until combined.
3) Using a small ice cream scoop or tablespoon, scoop out mounds of mixture, roll into balls, and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until tops are browned. Serve immediately or store in refrigerator for up to 4 days.

I love how the "meatballs" turned out. They were very crispy on the outside, but soft and fluffy on the inside. I have plenty marinara sauce and meatballs left so I'm thinking of making meatball subs later in the week.


Even if you think you'd still prefer traditional meatballs, I encourage you to give these a try. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!

~Tammy

This post shared with Clever Chicks, Down HomeEat Make GrowFarm Girl Blog FestThursday Favorite ThingsCreative Things ThursdayTasty TuesdaysHealthy Vegan FridayFood On FridayMeatless Monday and Hearth & Soul

42 comments:

  1. They look lovely, I'm not keen on the meat kind so may give these a go.
    Thanks again for popping by Tammy, I'm a new follower on Bloglovin'
    Janie x

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  2. I should not have read this post while hungry. Those non-meatballs look delicious, and perfect for the cooler weather we've been having!

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    1. Yes, they are perfect for cooler weather! Hope you enjoy :)

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  3. Ooh - these sound good - I was just saying that I was feeling stuck with our dinners. Will try this one!

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  4. Oh these sound interesting they look delicious I could eat some right now but I am being bad and eating Halloween candy I bought to hand out on Halloween. They may not make it. I am going to copy this recipe and give it a go later this week. B

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    1. Haha, I've been eating candy corn like it's going out of style so I am bad too.

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  5. Although we certainly are not vegetarians, the ingredients sound great and I bet these taste delicious -- thanks for sharing this recipe.

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    1. They were delicious! I think meat-eaters would agree :)

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  6. Your vegan meatball sound great to me! This will be on my must try list. Thanks for stopping by, Laura

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  7. I just made spaghetti and meatless (store bought) balls in home-made marinara for my gang Monday night. Everyone ate them, but it was the sauce that saved them- pretty flavorless without it. I can't wait to give this recipe a try!

    Have a great morning. :)
    Sonja

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    1. I really liked these because of the texture. They were wonderful with the marinara, but I don't think I'd eat them just on their own.

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  8. Hi, I’m Anne from Life on the Funny Farm (http://annesfunnyfarm.blogspot.com), and I’m visiting from Tilly’s Nest.

    I've been trying to feed my family more meatless dishes, but we've all been missing the meatballs in the spaghetti, so I'll definitely have to try this one. Thanks!

    Anyway, it’s nice to “meet” you! Hope you can pop by my blog sometime to say hi…

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    1. Hi, Anne! Thanks for stopping by! I checked out your blog and it's great! I'm a new follower :)

      Hope your family enjoys the not-meatballs :) And you can check out my "food" tab under my banner for more meatless recipes!

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  9. I'll be trying these, for sure. Dropping by from Deborah Jean's and so glad to meet you. My husband plans to have a few chickens next year once we are finally in the country so I will certainly find your blog interesting. Greetings from Ontario, Canada. Deb

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    1. Thank you so much for coming by! I hope you get some chickens - they are the best! And you can't beat freshly laid eggs :) Have a great day!

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  10. These look delicious, will have to give them a try! I made a raw vegan taco using chopped walnuts, nama shoyu and cumin as the "meat" substitute and it surprisingly tasted just like taco meat! Being a vegetarian you get to discover all sorts of new flavors that you normally wouldn't try!
    ~Rob

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    1. Wow, your tacos sound great! I recently made tacos with Lightlife brand veggie protein crumbles and it was pretty close to ground beef. I used the same homemade taco seasoning on the crumbles and they were really good! I have discovered so many new foods over the past few years!

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  11. Your not-meatballs look wonderful and I really like the bowl you have them in! :)

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    1. Thank you, Candy! That bowl is part of a set of china that my grandma gave me :)

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  12. I love your blog - so glad I discovered it! These meatballs look amazing and like you, I'm into "non meat" dishes these day. Love veggies and everything that I can grow here in NH (which is slim now). Come visit me! I'm following you now too!
    www.barefootbysea.com

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    1. Aww, thank you so much! We love our veggies around here. Thanks for following and the nice comment, Jessica :)

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  13. Thank you for this recipe. As a vegan, I'm always looking for No Meat recipes that aren't always soy based!

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    1. Absolutely! I love that it is made from brown rice and walnuts. Very heart healthy :)

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  14. Sounds tasty! I bet they would freeze well.

    Another way to make vegetarian "meat" sauce is with garbanzo beans--it's easy!

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    1. That "meat" sauce sounds interesting! Never would have thought of adding chickpeas but it sounds really good.

      Thanks for stopping by, Becca :)

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  15. This is such an excellent recipe to forward to my daughter. Thank you!

    Found you and am now following from the blog hop. :)

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    1. Great! I hope your daughter enjoys it. Thanks so much for the follow! :)

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  16. perfect for our meatless Monday meal. Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop. Wishing you a beautiful weekend xo

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    1. Thanks so much! Hope you have a beautiful weekend as well, Katherine :)

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  17. These look delicious! If I tweak a bit, they will be gluten-free too for my lil' guy! Thanks for sharing!

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  18. Hello! I’m stopping in to invite you to join us at the Clever Chicks Blog Hop this week!
    http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/11/clever-chicks-blog-hop-7-country-craft.html

    I hope to see you there!
    Cheers!
    Kathy
    The Chicken Chick

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  19. Hi there. The current Food on Friday is all about pasta and noodles! So it would be great if you linked this in. This is the link . Have a good week.

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  20. Thanks for linking in to Food on Friday: Pasta and Noodles. If you pop back in a day or so there should be a fantastic collection of all things pasta and noodles.
    I am now signed up to follow you. A follow back to Carole's Chatter would be wonderful – or are you already following? Cheers

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  21. Wow, what an interesting way to make meat-free meatballs. Using the walnuts is especially intriguing to me, I will have to bookmark this. Thanks for sharing at Meatless Monday last week :) I hope you had a nice holiday :) Check your email!

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  22. Hi Tammy, I made these again tonight for dinner but this time added some sliced baby bella mushrooms to the onions and garlic. They taste even better and when the sauce is added they taste just like meatballs! We used to buy eggplant meatballs, but will be making these from now on! Thanks for the recipe!
    ~Rob

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    1. Awesome! I'll try the mushrooms next time I make these. Thanks for letting us know!

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  23. Nice blog Thank You for sharing this blog. i was searching for Noodles Online . Noodles Online Order Noodles Online for more details CLICK HERE

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