There are some dishes the very mention of which send some people – at least of my generation – into some kind of nostalgia/comfort food overdrive. Apple pie, toast and butter, and a Sunday roasted anything are just some of them. Spaghetti bolognese is another, and let's not forget meatballs, perhaps the ultimate, all-American classic. There's something irresistibly homely and 1950s about them – very Mad Men altogether.
But what if you love meatballs but are trying to eat more veggies? Is it even possible to get something that comes close to the real thing? It’s certainly a bit cheeky to call anything that contains only vegetables a meatball. But my recipe for a vegetable version with a very moreish tomato sauce is my way of paying homage to the humble meatball, but with a healthier twist. A word of warning, however: don’t even attempt this without a food processor, or you will very possibly end up weeping in frustration.
Technical requirements aside, this is a straight-up, takes-no-prisoners kind of recipe. All the ingredients are tossed into the processor and pulsed till they reach the consistency of breadcrumbs.
Next, all those nutrition-packed little crumbs are bound together with egg, lime juice and tamari and shaped into oven-ready golfball-sized parcels. And while they are firming up nicely in the fridge before cooking, you can be making the tomato sauce and roasting the aubergines for a simple salad that goes very nicely with the ‘meatballs’.
If you fancy eating the salad on its own but want to ‘beef’ it up (sorry), you could throw in some feta or grilled halloumi cheese.
As well as being simple, both of these recipes are time-efficient to make. They are also very tasty if eaten the next day – even cold, in the case of the meatballs.
If you’re vegetarian, you can skip the anchovies in the sauce. If at all possible, however, do include them. They dissolve in the cooking process and give the sauce real oomph. For anchovo-phobes though, just don’t mention they’re there. They’ll never know.
Food cooked and styled by Domini Kemp and Gillian Fallon
