Meatball Pasta

Neatballs? I went online to see the kitchen exploits of fellow vegetarian cooks and came across several sites featuring recipes for Neatballs. One click later and I realised neatballs is a term that's been coined for vegan meatballs.

Why "Neat"?  Well, the "N" represents the "normal" ingredients that go into a neatball. Normal as in common, everyday, easy to find ingredients. Seriously?

A neatball is really a new-fangled way of saying vegetarian or vegan koftas. Instead of ground meat as the base, vegetarians use beans, tofu, nuts, mushrooms, eggplant or pulses as the base for their balls/cutlets. The different base ingredients determine not only the taste of your cutlet but also the texture. Using eggplant, for example, will yield you a smooth, soft cutlet while a nut-bean combo will give you a rough, crunchy texture. Mushrooms, of course, make anything taste good :)



Mushrooms are my favourite base ingredient for vegetarian koftas. And, unlike most recipes using mushroom, with koftas, I find the stems more useful than the caps so I buy the king oyster mushrooms (the one where the stems are at least a couple of inches thick and the caps are tiny and pale) and mix them with some shitake (stems and caps). The stems give you the koftas a kind of toughness you won't find with most vegetables.

I drained the mushrooms (about 2 cups)  and roughly chopped them up. Next, I seasoned them with just salt and pepper and dry roasted them for about 30 mins (150C). Let them cool.

Once cool, mix the caps with other ingredients of choice: I used walnuts (1/4 cup), some carrots (1/2 cup), parsley (a handful, chopped) and eggplant (1/2 cup, lightly roasted) and blend them till they are slightly pureed -- allow for some chunkiness. Add some mash potato (1 potato) and breadcrumbs (just 1/2 cup, optional) and season with oregano, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Roll into balls, and you're set.

Bake at 180C for 20 mins or till they're nice and browned. I cooked my koftas in a tomato-based stew and ate it with spaghetti but I kept several aside to eat on their own for my dinner tomorrow. They're that tasty ..

one meat ball

Because one cannot live on Hoagies & Wings alone (though one can sure try), I brought Pizza Meatballs to today's USC v. Syracuse tailgate. They were inspired by a contribution to last week's tailgate - pizza-flavored Pringles. And in keeping with that theme, these meatballs don't really taste anything like pizza either, but of course, that's not really the point.

That's not to say they weren't good. They were a bit dense - perhaps that's due to the lack of breadcrumbs? The fact that I took out the shredded mozzarella in the original recipe (but kept the smoked in half the batch) to respect a couple cheese-haters? In any case, I'd try a couple different proportions to get a lighter meatball, but the one that is a keeper is the sun-dried tomato-basil-shallot paste. The perfect flavoring. I'd love to turn into a sauce when I have more time - this time it was jarred marinara.

Pizza Meatballs
adapted from Giada de Laurentiis

8 oz smoked mozzarella cheese
2 large shallots, chopped
1/4 c. sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
1/3 c. packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 T. tomato paste
3/4 t. red pepper flakes
1 1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground pork
Marinara sauce, warmed, for serving (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Dice the smoked mozzarella into 1/2-inch cubes. Set aside.

2. In a food processor, pulse the shallots, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, Parmesan, tomato paste, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to a paste. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add the beef and pork and, using a wooden spoon or clean hands, stir until combined. Form into 1 1/4-to-1 1/2-inch meatballs. Insert 1 cube smoked mozzarella into the center of each meatball and form the meat around it, enclosing the cheese.

3. Place the fried meatballs on a baking sheet. Put in the oven and bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes. Cool slightly, then serve immediately with marinara sauce, if desired

Delicious Barbecue Meatballs Recipe

Ingredients : 
2 pounds ground beef
1 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 packages onion soup mix
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 eggs

Sauce :
2 onions, chopped
2 cans tomato paste (12 ounces total)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sweet pickle relish
1/2 cup beef broth
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons dry mustard

How To Prepare :  

1. Combine first 6 ingredients and mix well. Shape into meatballs and brown in a skillet with 1 tablespoon of oil. Drain on paper towels.

2. Add all sauce ingredients to Crock Pot and stir well.

3. Add meatballs and cook, covered, on low for 5 to 6 hours (high for 2 to 3). Serve from the Crock Pot.

Service : 60 meatballs.