These lentil - not meat - balls are delicious and served with a rich and flavourful tomato sauce. Perfect with pasta, in a sandwich or by themselves. They're also great for meal prepping.
Drain and thoroughly rinse the lentils and add them to a food processor.
Add the rest of the "lentil - not meat balls" ingredient to the food processor, i.e. ground cumin, smoked paprika, dried oregano, salt, tomato paste, molasses and buckwheat flour.
Pulse the food processor a few times. The mixture should stick together, but should not be completely smooth.
Take out a tablespoon of mixture at the time and roll it into a ball. Place the balls onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Bake the balls for 25 minutes at 180°C fan.
Once baked, let them cool down for 2-3 minutes until they are easily peeled off the baking paper.
Tomato Sauce
While the lentil - not meat - balls are in the oven, dice the onion and mince 3 cloves of garlic. Finely chop the celery.
Heat up a cast iron pan (or large fry pan) and add the olive oil.
Add the onion, garlic and celery and fry until the onion is golden in colour.
Deglaze the pan with balsamic vinegar once the onions start to stick to the pan.
Finely chop the parsley (including stalks) and roughly chop the capers.
Add the chopped parsley and capers as well as the chili flakes to the pan and stir to mix.
Empty the tin of chopped tomato into the pan. Then, fill up the tin half-way with water and swirl before adding the water into the pan too.
Season the sauce with salt and pepper and cook the sauce for a further 5 minutes.
Assembly
Once the sauce is cooked and the lentil - not meat - balls are baked, remove the lentil - not meat- balls from the baking paper and add them into the sauce.
Turn the lentil - not meat- balls in the sauce to fully cover them.
Enjoy them by themselves with a side salad or serve them with pasta or in a sandwich.
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Keyword lentils, plant based meat balls, tomato
Nutrition Facts
Lentil - Not Meat - Balls
Amount Per Serving (300 g)
Calories 271Calories from Fat 71
% Daily Value*
Fat 7.9g12%
Saturated Fat 1.1g7%
Trans Fat 0.01g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.1g
Monounsaturated Fat 5.2g
Cholesterol 0mg0%
Sodium 468.9mg20%
Potassium 903.9mg26%
Carbohydrates 40g13%
Fiber 10.8g45%
Sugar 8.3g9%
Protein 13.5g27%
Vitamin A 1067IU21%
Vitamin C 23.7mg29%
Calcium 110mg11%
Iron 6.5mg36%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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