Mushroom Meatballs.
Another victory for a clean-out-the-fridge recipe!
I had a bag of shiitakes that I needed to do something with…half a bunch of fresh dill…and a little container of marinara. So, the logical thing was – spaghetti and MEATBALLS!
I don’t know why I think meatballs when I think about dill but I do. I love putting fresh dill into them. Any fresh herb adds a bright pop of green that is much needed in a meatball, so try basil or parsley if you have them too.
I made these three times this week, just to “test the recipe thoroughly” (wink wink), and the second time I used parsley. Equally as yummy as the dill.
ingredients:
- mushrooms – really any kind will work – I’ll explain the amounts needed in the directions below
- 3/4 c raw walnuts
- 2 t dried oregano
- a handful of fresh dill (or parsley or basil), chopped, about 1/3 c
- 2 T tamari or soy sauce
- few sprinkles of fresh cracked pepper
- 1 t ketchup
- 1 flax egg (1 T flax meal mixed with 3 T warm water and allowed to sit for 5 minutes to thicken up)
First, dry roast your mushrooms at 300 degrees F. I used 15 shiitake mushroom caps which amounted to slightly less than 1 pound.
I roasted them whole (just the stems removed) until they shrunk down in size quite a bit, about 20 minutes. You want to reduce the water content of them so they hold together when baking the meatballs, otherwise they will get soggy and turn to mush as the water bakes out of them.
After roasting your mushrooms, add them and all the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the flax egg to a food processor –
– OR –
– using a very sharp knife chop just the roasted mushrooms, herbs and walnuts together on your cutting board. I opted to do the chopping and it took about 10 minutes of constant chopping to really get everything blended together. My food processor is currently on the fritz and I don’t like to use my vitamix for things like this because a lot of food tends to get stuck underneath the blades.
before chopping
after chopping
Process until you have a fine, crumbly meal.
Dump your crumbly love into a mixing bowl and add the flax egg. If you opted to do the chopping method then you should also add your ketchup, tamari or soy sauce, pepper and dried oregano now.
Mix well.
Heat your oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Shape your mix into balls and space them out evenly on the tray. You should be able to make roughly 8 balls, golf ball sized.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the outside has crisped up and they have browned a bit.
Add them to pasta with some sauce or pesto, or even a big bowl of rice and veggies. Honestly, I love to eat these as a snack all by themselves!
Enjoy!
Eat More Plants. 
7 Responses to “Mushroom Meatballs.”
Yum, these look great!
Awesome!
Looks awesome! I’ll definitely be cooking these!
I love me some pasta. Looks amazing!
great!!!
yumyy!! this looks amazing
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Have a great recipe! We can’t wait to try them! 🙂