Category Archives: pasta

Vegetarian ‘meat’ balls with farro risotto

23 Thursday Oct 2014

Posted by in comfort food, healthy, italian, kids, pasta, pasta sauce, peanut free, Sauces, Vegetarian

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farro risotto veggie meatballs

veggie meatballs with farro

I accidentally invented the world’s best vegetarian meatballs! Or meatless balls. Or veggie balls. I can’t keep trying to think of alternative names for ‘meatballs’ because eventually anything plus ‘balls’ starts sounding really funny to me, so… whatever you want to call these things, be my guest, so long as you know that they are good. Great. They are great. I invented these while staring at some leftover farro risotto. The risotto is just the right amount of chewy (unlike a bean version which would be tasty but mushy or a soft, crumbly falafel-like version) and it already has the flavor from the wine, stock, onions, celery, cheese (and a bit of pesto).

I don’t recommend making them right off—meaning, cooking the risotto just to make the meatballs—as that will be too much effort for a home-cooked dinner. Wait until you have some leftover farro risotto lying around and then pounce. Or plan two meals ahead of time: farro risotto with pesto one night and spaghetti with vegetarian meatballs the next night.

Ingredients for the veggie meatballs

3 cups farro risotto, cooled*
2 eggs
ground cashew nuts or cashew meal
panko flakes
salt and pepper
flour for rolling
olive oil for frying

For the sauce

a large can of unsalted stewed tomatoes
(or a jar of simple pasta sauce)
1-2 cloves garlic
pinch of sugar
salt and pepper, as needed
olive oil

*For the risotto
Trader Joes quick cook risotto
big chunk of butter
onion, minced
celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
splash white wine
vegetable bouillon mixed with water (or veggie stock)
grated cheese (parmesan, romano, cheddar, jack, or a mix of all)
fresh black pepper
splash of cream
1-2 tsp homemade fresh pesto

1) Farro risotto

The night before I invented these amazing veggie balls of deliciousness, I had made the farro risotto for dinner and still had plenty leftover. I don’t have measurements as I didn’t measure anything. If you are used to making risotto, this should be no problem.

Sautee the onion, celery and garlic in plenty of butter until soft and translucent, then add in the farro and stir to coat. Add a good glug of wine and turn up the heat, stirring till the liquid has evaporated. Add a bouillon cube and water (or stock), cover with a lid and cook on medium heat till done. Check and stir frequently, adding more water as needed, until the farro is cooked but still chewy. Then add in grated cheese, black pepper and a splash of cream. Cover and let sit till ready to serve. Just before serving, add a dollop of fresh homemade pesto and mix in thoroughly. The kids ate this very well with their fish sticks and edamame, and my husband and I had our risotto topped with sautéed mushrooms (in butter, garlic, wine and cream) and extra pesto.

2) THE NEXT DAY, in a large bowl, combine 3 cups of leftover farro risotto with 2 eggs, plenty of ground cashew meal (start with 1/3-1/2 a cup and go from there), some panko flakes and fresh black pepper. I didn’t measure the proportion of ground nuts or panko flakes so you will have to go with your gut. You want the veggie balls to hold together very well and still be quite sticky. Keep your hands floured as you work to cope with the stickiness.

3) In a heavy-bottomed frying pan, heat up enough olive oil for shallow frying and gently lay the veggie balls into the oil. Fry on medium or med-low heat and turn so that each side is golden brown.

4) Drain on paper towel.

5) In another pot, heat up some olive oil and fry 1 or 2 cloves of garlic gently to flavor the oil. Add in the large can of stewed tomatoes or the jar of pasta sauce. Break up the tomatoes if need be. Simmer for 20 minutes or so. Taste the sauce and add seasoning if needed: salt and pepper, basil and a tsp of sugar, or nothing if you are using a prepared pasta sauce already.

8) Add in the veggie balls and simmer gently until the sauce is ready and the veggie balls are tender, about another 10-15 minutes. Be gentle with them! It’s ok if they start to break up a little in the sauce, this makes the sauce and the farro even tastier. It is ready when it has turned a rich, deep red and tastes delicious.

Serve with al dente pasta and grated cheese on top.

Soba sushi

24 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by in healthy, Japanese, party bites, pasta, peanut free, quick and awesome, Sauces, snacks, soba noodles, vegan, Vegetarian

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soba sushi-1
soba on nori-1
veg and soba on nori-1
veggies-1
sushi roll-1

My new cheat way to eat wasabi! Sushi with soba. Because I love wasabi but you can’t really just spoon it in, can you? It needs a home. So when you are in the mood for sushi and wasabi and don’t want to go through the whole sushi rice thing (soaking, rinsing the rice, cooling, sugar, vinegar, etc), try the soba noodle version. These hearty, nutritious noodles cook in 4 minutes. The only drawback is the arranging on the nori sheets as these are noodles, not rice that you can simply mush into place. I have read that a good technique to keep the bunches of soba tied with a string while cooking. Then the noodles are perfectly aligned for placing elegantly on nori sheets for rolling. I didn’t have any string to hand in my kitchen and I wasn’t about to go trudging upstairs to look for string so I just cooked them. And I ended up testing for how easy it is to make soba noodle sushi with clumps of noodles instead of perfectly arranged uniform rows of noodles. Turns out it’s fine. Just cut the ends off carefully.

Ingredients for three sushi rolls

2 bundles dried buckwheat soba noodles
1 small cucumber or persian cucumber
1/2 to 3/4 red pepper
1 carrot
sushi nori sheets

Dipping sauce*
1 small piece of dried kelp (about the size of your palm or smaller)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup good soy sauce
1/4 tsp sugar
3 tsp mirin

wasabi

* simply use soy sauce and wasabi if you like

1) Boil water and cook the soba noodles according to instructions. Rinse with cold water and set aside.
2) Prep the veggies by grating the carrot or using a carrot peeler to slice finely. Slice and julienne the red pepper and cucumber the same way.
3) Place the sheet of nori on a bamboo rolling mat. When the noodles are cooked and rinsed, lay out a good portion on a sheet of nori. A bit more than half of the bundle.
4) Layer the thinly sliced vegetables on top.
5) Using the bamboo rolling mat and your fingers to hold everything in place, roll the bottom bit of the nori sheet over all the noodles and vegetables and tuck in tightly. Then continue rolling the sushi roll until it is completely packaged all together. Set aside, seam side down and let rest for a few minutes. Repeat with the remaining nori sheets and noodles.

To make the dipping sauce

1) Boil the water and dried kelp and then let simmer for about 15 minutes.
2) Let cool, remove kelp and add in the rest of the ingredients and mix together.

Wet a good, sharp knife and cleanly slice the sushi roll as uniformly as you can. Carefully cut the ends of the noodles poking out of the sushi roll. Serve with the dipping sauce in a small bowl with wasabi on the side.