meat or legume balls

legume ball video

meat ball video

There’s something super comforting about little balls of protein baked in a tasty tomato sauce.

per person:
1 cup tomato passata (tomato puree)
parmesan cheese, to serve
for legume balls:
1/2 can legumes, drained
40g (1.5oz) almond meal
1/2 egg
for meat balls:
1/2 small onion, diced
150g (5oz) ground meat
40g (1.5oz) almond meal

1. Preheat oven to 200C (400F).

2. For lentil balls – Roughly mash lentils in a large bowl with a fork, then add almond meal and the egg. Mix and season.

3. For meat balls – soften onion in a little oil. Stir into the ground meat and almond meal. Season.

4. Place tomato passata in the base of a large oven proof dish. Using a soup spoon, form the lentil or meat mixture into small balls. Placing them in the sauce as you go.

4. Drizzle very generously with extra virgin olive oil and bake for about 20 minutes for lentil balls or 30-40 minutes for meat balls or until balls are firm and the sauce has reduced a little.

variations

legumes – Lentils, white beans, butter beans, chickpeas, black beans, red kidney beans. You can also use cooked legumes and lentils.

ground meat – beef is traditional but minced pork, veal, lamb, turkey or chicken or a comination of these can be used.

nut-free / budget – replace almond meal with freah soft breadcrumbs.

flavours for sauce – try a little chilli powder, some ground cumin, or butter.

vegan/egg-free – I’ve tried making these without the egg and they ended up as lentil ‘mush’ so probably best to try another dish if you can’t have egg.

dairy-free – replace the parmesan with finely shaved brazil nuts or chopped fresh herbs such as basil or parsley or chives.