Veg: Spaghetti and Spinach Balls

[evan]

My DH loves my Mediterranean meat balls. He often asks for Spaghetti with meatballs for dinner, and I have looked high and low to find a vegetarian sub for meatballs. I did try soy meatballs, but truth be told, I didn't like how they tasted. Or the rubbery consistency.

I have surfed the net looking for ideas, so last weekend I made Spinach Parmesan balls which tasted great. I love spinach and I think those balls can be used both in a tapas dinner or as a part of Greek meze.

I got my inspiration from this site, but I changed the recipe a little bit. I’ll give you my recipe here, then you can visit the blog for the originally recipe:

http://www.veggiebelly.com/2010/05/spaghetti-spinach-balls.html

1 lb frozen spinach

1/2 cup grated parmesan (I used Manchego cheese, because I happened to be out of Parmesan cheese).

4 oz breadcrumbs

a pinch of nutmeg

1 garlic clove, minced

2 eggs

A pinch of cayenne

Salt

Pepper

Thaw frozen spinach. Squeeze out as much water as possible (I placed the spinach in a colander and pressed the water out with the back of a tablespoon).

Place spinach in a bowl. Add all other ingredients and mix well. Form the spinach mixture into balls with a tablespoon.

Place on a baking pan lined with parchment paper. (I got 12 spinach balls from this recipe. Next time I'll make them smaller so that one ball equals one mouthful).

Bake at 430F for 10-15 minutes, or until done.

(The original recipe said to fry the spinach balls, but I try to stay away from fried food as much as possible, so I baked them instead.)

Serve spinach balls with spaghetti and tomato sauce.

http://www.veggiebelly.com/2010/05/spaghetti-spinach-balls.html

 

[CathyZ]

Eva, an extra tweak might include these additions just for fun

I like the ingredients in the REC and may I suggest some possible additions? How about either ground nuts (pine nuts, walnuts) or finely chopped mushrooms that have been squeezed to get the juice out (I use either a potato ricer or I put in a clean dish towel and twist to squeeze). Might be some good extra flavor there for your veggie balls. May have to add more binder of course. And if nuts are used you most likely wouldn't need the bread crumbs.

 

[evan]

Cathy, your ideas are great! As with most things in life, variety keeps

cooking interesting. I love your idea about adding nuts. I think the depth of flavor will be interesting. I'm thinking - spaghetti with muahroon and walnut spinach balls served with gorgonzola sauce..... smileys/smile.gif