Fried, stewed or baked: le vegetarian meatballs they are a healthy and tasty solution to bring to the table a second original that both young and old like. They are a perfect dish for a family lunch, for an informal dinner with friends or for a happy hour style buffet where guests eat directly with their hands … but, above all, they are strategic to make children or adults love each other reticenti, vegetables and legumes, mixing them with other ingredients. Think about that for many meatballs veg they are greedier than the classic meatballs of meat or of fish!
If a time then do the meatballs it was the basic escamotage to reuse the leftovers from the day before (starting from what remained in the roasting pan, boiled and boiled); today we can consider it an independent preparation, to be carried out by purposely purchasing all the ingredients. The fact remains that, if you like challenges in the kitchen, you can still put the art of recycling into practice and always adopt some useful anti-waste techniques.
Do the vegetarian meatballs it's still easy! You don't need great skills in the kitchen and the ingredients they are always cheap and easy to buy. In general, you just need to prepare a base of raw or cooked vegetables, boiled vegetables, quinoa, amaranth or millet to which you can add spices, grated cheese, eggs and breadcrumbs. The goal is to get a dough soft, but compact enough to be molded, with which to shape delicious balls to bake in the oven or in a pan. If the dough is too hard, add milk or broth, while if it is too soft, add some breadcrumbs.
The value of vegetarian meatballs is that you can customize them as you like, not just by changing them dough ingredients but, also, by adopting cooking techniques very different. You can bring fried meatballs, stewed meatballs or tomato sauce, baked meatballs and even boiled meatballs. You felt like eating the vegetarian meatballs and are you looking for ideas to prepare them? He thinks about it Salt and pepper! Continue reading this session and you will discover many basic techniques to cook them in a simple and appetizing way and as many recipes.
How to prepare vegetarian eggplant meatballs
The vegetable meatballs, they are so tasty that it would be a real shame not to eat them all year long! If the eggplant meatballs or those of zucchini they are perfect to prepare in the summer when these vegetables are in season, the meatballs of pumpkin you hate spinach they are tasty in autumn, winter or spring.
For prepare the eggplant balls there are many recipes, but the basis is always very similar. First you have to cook the vegetables in the oven taking care to wrap them in a paper bag. They will be cooked when, putting on the prongs of the fork, they will no longer resist. Helping yourself with a spoon extract the eggplant pulp, squeeze it to remove excess water, then mix it with egg, breadcrumbs and grated cheese. If you like you can enrich the dough with spices and aromatic herbs or you can place a mozzarella cheese cube in the heart of each meatball. Form the balls you just have to cook yours eggplant meatballs as you prefer: the classic recipe of Salt & Pepper it includes both frying and pan-frying. But we also have the stew variant with tomato sauce. If it's hot, and you have no intention of turning on the oven, you can also decide to cook the eggplant steam powered or in the pan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and the aromas or spices you prefer.
How to prepare vegetarian pumpkin or courgette balls
For the pumpkin patties you can safely follow the same technique as the eggplant balls. Keep in mind that the pumpkin goes well with potatoes, with the savory and decisive flavors of cold cuts and cheeses and with the sweet flavor of raisins. If you are looking for new original inspirations for cook pumpkin patties we propose the version with speck and raisins: Click here to read the recipe.
As regards the Aubergine Meatballs you can easily choose whether to cook the vegetables in the pan and proceed as explained above for the aubergine balls or the pumpkin balls or to use them raw after a simple and quick order. In this second case, collect the grated raw courgettes in a colander, sprinkle with salt and after about twenty minutes crush them so that they lose the vegetation water as much as possible. Then add egg, breadcrumbs and cheese. Click here for the Greek recipe of the cretan courgettes. You can enjoy it with a creamy yogurt sauce!
How to prepare vegetarian spinach balls
If your favorite vegetables are spinach you can of course prepare some tasty ones meatballs of spinacthe all the year. To prepare them in a simple way, stew fresh or frozen spinach in a non-stick pan without adding anything: keep in mind that the vegetation water will have to completely evaporate. Once cooked, simply chop them and mix them with the usual basic ingredients of the classic meatball dough: eggs, cheese and breadcrumbs just enough to get the right consistency.
A useful tip: to work spinach, the use of mixers and blenders is not recommended, it is better to rely on the half-moon of our grandmothers. This avoids the risk of "shredding" the fibers excessively and reducing the vegetables in puree. To the basic compound you can add, if you wish, also some boiled and crushed potatoes, mozzarella or another type of stringy cheese. You can also use ricotta and, in this case, avoid using eggs. To be sure of the consistency of yours spinach balls without eggs add to the breadcrumb base mixture and make sure of the quality and freshness of the ricotta cheese. It must be well dry, better to use the one from the day before or, alternatively, drain it for a few hours in a colander so as to make it lose the excess liquid. Read here the recipe for spinach balls of Salt & Pepper.
How to prepare vegetarian potato dumplings
If you like them meatballs of potatoes (better known by the name of potato croquettes) know that there are hundreds of recipes! You can prepare them in many different ways, using very few or many ingredients. The neutral flavor of the potatoes allows endless combinations: with vegetables, with cheeses, with cured meats, with spices and aromatic herbs.
For the classic recipe first of all you have to boil the potatoes, better with the skin, in plenty of salted water. Once cooked, squeeze and mash while still hot using the special tool, a medium-bore vegetable mill or, at the very least, a fork. Do not fold on the mixer: otherwise, instead of getting a smooth, lump-free puree, you will have a pile sticky! You can then add eggs, grated cheese and flour to the basic mashed potatoes or mix a thick béchamel.
How to prepare vegetarian legume meatballs
The legume balls they are simple to prepare and are a real delicacy! But at the same time, I am also a second healthy and nutritious vegetarian: chickpeas, lentils, beans and peas are rich in proteins and have numerous beneficial properties for health. A low cost dish which can prove to be perfect for the lunch or dinner of the little ones.
The legume vegetarian meatballs most famous are undoubtedly i falafel, a typical dish of the Middle Eastern tradition based on legumes (usually chickpeas), onion, garlic, parsley and cumin. To prepare falafel in a workmanlike manner it is necessary to get to work a day earlier, soaking i dried vegetables in cold water for at least 12-18 hours. Once drained and rinsed, the soaked chickpeas should be dried thoroughly and mixed with the onion, chopped parsley and cumin in the mixer. The dough is left to rest in the refrigerator for at least 60 minutes before being turned into meatballs to be fried in plenty of peanut oil.
A faster way to prepare these vegetarian meatballs is to use, of course, i boiled vegetables. Ready-made canned ones are also good. You will be able to do so very practical chickpea balls, lentil meatballs, pea meatballs, Meatballs Bean but also soy meatballs or lupins. How to proceed? Scola i canned vegetables from the storage liquid, sciaquali and put them in the mixer together with your favorite vegetables, for example courgettes cut into coarse pieces, shallots or spring onion. To add flavor, add spices and, if you like, lemon zest or grated cheese. Blend everything until you get a thick paste, in this case it could be necessary to combine a couple of spoonfuls of water. Collect the puree in a bowl and mix with the breadcrumbs until the dough is compact, dry but soft enough to be shaped. As always you can cook them both in the pan and in the oven.
How to prepare millet or quinoa meatballs
If you want to prepare vegetarian meatballs original, instead of using vegetables or legumes, you can use cereals and fake cereals like the mile or the quinoa. Once blanched, they can be seasoned and used to create tasty meatballs, but with a delicate flavor, absolutely gluten-free. There are also two millet and quinoa gluten free foods, also perfect for the diet of those affected by celiac disease.
Prepare the millet meatballs it's really easy. First rinse the cereal several times under a jet of running water, then dry it and possibly toast it in a non-stick pan. Cook the millet in salted boiling water or vegetable broth for 15 minutes then drain and leave to cool wrapped in a cloth placed between the pot and the lid. Verdrai that will swell. To the boiled millet you can add raw or cooked vegetables, spices, aromas and egg that will serve as a binder. If the dough is too soft you can also add breadcrumbs.
To prepare the Quinoa meet balls you can use all 3 varieties of quinoa on the market: white, red or black. Keep in mind that the white quinoa it has a more neutral flavor that is well suited to any type of preparation. There red quinoa and the quinoa Black they have two distinct personalities but both have a stronger flavor. Whatever your choice, before cooking the quinoa, rinse the beans well under running water with a sieve: the quinoa seeds have a particular protective coating called saponin which can make them very bitter during cooking.
If you want to enhance the aromatic flavor of quinoa, we recommend toasting it before cooking. Pour it into a non-stick saucepan, even without adding fat, and let it jump for a few minutes. Then boil it in salted boiling water following the basic salt and pepper guide or the instructions given in the package. If you want to bring very simple quinoa meatballs to the table add to the boiled quinoa and made to cool egg, grated cheese, some spice or the most common aromatic herbs. In reality you can play around in the creation of very special dough, just add or remove the ingredients you prefer, to prepare some vegetarian meatballs always different! Do you need a recipe on the fly? Try the white quinoa balls of Salt & Pepper with added radicchio and cauliflower.
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