Vegetarian lentil Meatballs with Spaghetti Recipe
These tasty vegetarian lentil meatballs are crafted from green lentils and seasoned with olives, Parmesan, paprika, fresh chili, and parsley. They’re coated in a vibrant cherry tomato sauce infused with basil and Chianti wine. Baked to perfection, these lentil balls are served over a bed of al dente spaghetti with a side of crusty garlic bread.
Ingredients
Sauce
- black pepper (to taste)
- 100 grams cherry tomatoes
- 3 sprig fresh basil
- 125 ml Chianti red wine
- salt (to taste)
- 2 grams granulated sugar
- 1 tin tinned tomatoes
lentil balls
- 25 grams black olives
- black pepper (to taste)
- 0.5 whole fresh chilli
- 2 sprig fresh parsley
- 1 cloves garlic
- 1 tin tinned green lentils
- 0.5 whole onions
- 0.5 tsp paprika
- 15 grams parmesan or pecorino cheese
- salt (to taste)
- 1 slices brown bread
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Bread
- 1 stick garlic bread
Pasta
- 150 grams spaghetti
Instructions
- finely grate the parmesan, chop the olives, peel and crush the garlic, peel and chop the onion(s) finely, add the ingredients to a bowl
- using a food processor blend the bread into fresh breadcrumbs, blend until the contents forms a crumb, drain and rinse the lentils, blend for a short time to mix the ingredients, empty the contents of the food processor into a the olive and parmesan bowl, set the oven to 220C 425F or gas mark 7
- wash and finely chop the chilli, wash and finely chop the fresh parsley, add the ingredients to the lentils and breadcrumbs, add the paprika to the bowl, season with salt and pepper, stir to mix the ingredients
- take a large spoonful of the mixture and with damp hands shape the mixture into a meatball, repeat until all the mixture has been formed into "meatballs", place a drop of oil in the oven proof dish, lightly toss the meatballs in the olive oil, place in the oven, cook for 10 mins
- wash the cherry tomatoes and then slice in half, remove the lentil balls from the oven, add the cherry tomatoes, add the wine, place in the oven, cook for 10 mins
- remove the lentil balls from the oven, add the tinned tomatoes, add the sugar, wash and tear the basil leaves add to the sauce, season with salt and pepper, place in the oven, cook for 15 mins to 20 mins
- put the garlic bread on the baking tray and place in the oven follow cooking instructions on packaging
- half fill a pan with water and boil, add a spot of olive oil and a pinch of salt to the boiling water, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until tender but with a slight bite, reserve a few tbsps of cooking liquid from the pasta, drain the pasta
- remove meatballs from the oven, taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary, if the sauce is a bit thick add the reserved pasta water, just enough for the correct consistency
- divide the pasta between the serving plates, place 3 to 5 meatballs on each plate and share the sauce between the serving dishes
- remove garlic bread from the oven, serve the pasta with garlic bread
- if cooking extra for the freezer store the extra lentils in a freezable container allow to cool and then place in freezer
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