Seitan Spaghetti Meatballs
Equipment
- Measuring Jug
- Food Blender (not essential)
- Scales
- Chopping Board
Ingredients
- 350 g Spaghetti/Linguini
For the tomato sauce
- 2 x 400 ml Tinned tomatoes
- 1/2 tin Kidney Beans
- 8 – 12 Mushrooms
- 1 Onion
- 1 Bell pepper
- 1 tbsp Tomato puree
- A splash of Balsamic Vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the seitan meatballs
- 175 g Vital wheat gluten
- 1/2 tin Kidney beans
- 1 tbsp Liquid smoke
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 tbsp Nutritional yeast
- 190 ml water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/356F
- Add all the ingredients for the seitan meatballs to the food blender or to a bowl to whisk manually. Blend until the mixture is a little wet and can be easily shaped.
- Shape the mixture into meatballs and place them on a baking tray. Use flour where neccesary to coat your hands.
- Place balls in oven for 18-20 minutes. Whilst cooking we can prepare the sauce. Chop the onion, pepper and mushrooms and fry with a splash of water. Let this cook until the mushrooms have slightly reduced. Add the rest of the kidney beans and the tinned tomatoes.
- Let this simmer for 5 minutes and then finish this with the tomato puree and balsamic vinegar. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
- Cook the pasta and set aside. Once the meatballs are cooked, arrange on the spaghetti, sauce and meatballs and enjoy!
Spaghetti bolognese is an absolute classic, and for us it’s a go-to midweek meal. Bolognese is traditionally a meat-based tomato sauce, but we like to throw the rulebook out… our bolognese is a simple yet delicious tomato-based sauce seasoned with vegetables and balsamic vinegar for an umami twist. Seitan, which is wheat gluten, has been around since 1961 and the humble meatball is one of our favourite ways to enjoy this classic. Read on for our Seitan Spaghetti Meatballs recipe…
Serves 4.
Equipment:
- Measuring Jug
- Scales
- Food Blender (not essential)
- Chopping board
Ingredients:
- 350g spaghetti/linguini
For the tomato sauce
- 2 x 400ml tinned tomatoes
- 8-12 mushrooms
- 1 onion
- 1 bell pepper
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- Splash of Balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the seitan meatballs
- 175g vital wheat gluten
- ½ tin of kidney beans
- 1tbsp liquid smoke
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp oregano
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 190ml water
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180c. Add all the ingredients for the seitan meatballs to a food blender to combine them. If you don’t have a blender, this can be done with a whisk or fork. Blend thoroughly until most of the kidney beans are chopped up and so the mixture is a little wet with a consistency suitable for shaping. Keep adding flour or water to achieve the desired texture. If in doubt it is best to stick with a slightly wet texture before shaping into meatballs. We have made seitan a few times in the past – and if too dry it can be quite frustrating to eat.
Scoop out portions of the mixture, and use your hands to mould them into meatballs and place on a baking tray. This recipe should make enough for 12 meatballs. Pop them in the oven for around 20-25 minutes.
While the seitan meatballs are baking away in the oven, prepare the sauce.
Chop up the onion, mushrooms and the pepper. Add to a saucepan with a little bit of water and let this cook for a few minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated. Being careful not to overcook the veg. From here we can add the remaining kidney beans. We are a fan of letting kidney beans cook for a while as they can have a bit of a rough texture – but always delicious and nutritious! Add the tinned tomatoes and let this all simmer for about 5 minutes. Finish off with a splash of the vinegar, tomato puree and salt & pepper and leave to simmer for 5 mins. Finish off by stirring in the tomato puree.
While the sauce is simmering, cook the spaghetti and be sure to salt the boiling water for added flavour.
Serve up & garnish however you fancy… we sprinkled ours with some vegan cheese!
I hope you’ll give my seitan spaghetti meatballs recipe a whirl – leave a comment if you do as we’d love to know what you think.
Sam x
