Okay, so I had a craving for spaghetti and meatballs last week, and finally got around to it last night. If you don’t care about homemade sauce, you could make this really fast by substituting jar sauce, but really, it cooks while you do everything else, and it’s pretty easy, so try it? ; ) I was really pleased that my flax seed/wheat gluten combination worked out. Feel free to play around with the vegan parm/nutritional yeast/bread crumb combination to suit your palate or cupboard contents.
Ty’s Spaghetti & Vegan Meatball Experiment
1 lb of spaghetti, cooked according to box directions
Meatballs
1 1/4 c. TVP
1 1/4 c. water or stock (or water + bouillon)
1 tbsp. liquid smoke
1 tbsp. vegan worcestershire
1 tbsp. ground flax seed
3 tbsp. hot water
2 tbsp. vital wheat gluten
1/4 c. of bread crumbs, (I used panko)
1/4 c. of vegan parm
1/4 c. of nutritional yeast (you can just use another 1/4 c. of bread crumbs instead, if you like)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt & Pepper, and a pinch of Italian seasoning (I have an Italian seasoning grinder that has all of these in one.)
Sauce
Olive Oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 an onion, chopped (I used red.)
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1 c. veggie stock (I used 1 c. water + 1 bullion cube)
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes (or chopped or diced + 8 oz can tomato sauce)
1 tbsp. tomato paste
squeeze of agave or pinch of sugar, optional
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried parsley
Salt & Pepper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400*F and prepare a cookie sheet.
1. Prepare TVP. Bring water, liquid smoke and worcestershire up to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in TVP, and let it cool.
2. Spray a medium pot with olive oil and heat to low-medium. Add onions and pinch of salt. Cook until onions soften, about 5-7 minutes, add garlic and crushed red pepper flakes and cook an additional minute. Add stock, tomatoes, and spices. Raise heat to medium and drop to a simmer. Cook covered for 15 minutes and partially covered, for another least 15 minutes.
3. In a ramekin or other small vessel, whisk ground flax seed with hot water until mixture thickens slighty. In a large bowl mix TVP, flax mixture and all other meatball ingredients until well combined. Turn out onto a surface and knead for a minute or two. Shape into 1 1/4″ balls and place on prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes.
4. When meatballs are ready, add them to the sauce. Serve over cooked spaghetti and top with additional vegan parm! Yum!
Tags: fake meat, spaghetti and meatballs, spaghetti and vegan meatballs, vegan italian, vegan meatballs, vegan spaghetti and meatballs
