Spaghetti with Veggie (meat)balls
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Spaghetti with Veggie (meat)balls
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You will need:
For the Pesto spaghetti:
Spaghetti (I used gluten-free spaghetti)
a bunch of spinach leaves
a bumch of cilantro leaves
2 cloves of garlic
1-2 green chillies – optional
olive oil
4-5 walnuts
salt
For the veggie (meat) balls:
1 small beetroot (steamed and shredded),
1 cup of frozen veggie mix (carrots, peas, beans and corn)
1 tsp coriander powder
A pinch of garam masala
1 tsp of ground fresh ginger+green chilli (you can add more if you like spicy)
A bunch of finely chopped cilantro leaves
1 big potato – boiled, peeled, mashed and cooled
1 Onion – finely chopped
1 slice of bread – run through the food processor OR 1/2 cup of bread crumbs
1/4 cup cornstarch
Oil for shallow frying
Procedure:
- Blitz the frozen veggies (thawed) in a food processor and mix with the shredded beetroot
- To the veggie mixture add 1-2 potatoes – boiled peeled and mashed (add when potatoes are completely cooled down)
- Next add a tsp of coriander powder, a pinch of garam masala and a tsp of ground fresh ginger+green chilli (you can add more if you like spicy) and a bunch of finely chopped cilantro leaves
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- In a pan heat a tbsp of oil and sauté one small onion finely chopped. I added extra ginger+chilli to this. Next add the veggie and potato mixture and sauté on medium flame till it comes together and starts becoming dry-ish
- Remove into another bowl or plate and let cool completely – this is very important or the veggie balls will be too moist and won’t hold shape
- To the cooked mixture add a slice of bread – crumbed in the food processor. Or you can add half a cup of bread crumbs
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- Shape bite-size balls with the veggie mix, roll in some corn starch and shallow fry. You can also use an indented pan (appe patra) to fry the balls.
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- while the balls cook, Grind together a handful of spinach leaves, a handful of cilantro, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 green chillies, 3-4 walnut halves and a tbsp of EVOO to make a paste, add little water as needed.
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- Cook spaghetti al dente – I have used gluten free spaghetti.
- Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan and add the pesto sauce and sauté for just a few seconds till raw spinach and garlic smell reduces.
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- Toss in the spaghetti and remove on a plate and top with generous amounts of Parmesan cheese and then place the veggie balls on top.
- Drizzle leftover pesto from the pan with extra olive oil on the dish and some extra Parmesan.
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- This recipe makes about 12 -14 meatballs
- You can also use marinara sauce instead of the spinach cilantro pesto.
- You can find the Mariana sauce recipe here
- If you like extra spice, add more green chillies to the pesto or a dash of crushed red chili flakes on top.