Meatball Marinara

Meatballs:

-2 cups of cooked chickpeas -1 cup of low sodium bread crumbs -1/2 an onion, minced -5 cloves of garlic, minced -2 flax eggs -2/3 cup of vegan parmesan -4 tbsp of tomato paste -2 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce -2 tbsp Italian seasoning -2 tbsp of fresh thyme -2 tbsp fresh rosemary, minced -1 tbsp of olive oil (optional) -salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

-Also optional is 1 tbsp of fennel

Directions:

-Add your chickpeas to a blender and lightly pulse to break them up. -Add all of your ingredients into a bowl, mix by hand and make sure all ingredients are thoroughly combined. -Roll the mix into even equal sized balls. -Put them on a baking sheet (I used a stone baking sheet). -Bake at 385 for 15 minutes or until you’ve reached your desired firmness.

-Once the meatballs have finished cooking, allow them to cool for about 10 minutes.

-Then add them into your favorite marinara sauce, mix gently and lightly simmer for about 5-10 minutes.*

You want to them cook long enough to soak up that sauce!

I hope you truly love this recipe. We absolutely love it so much and the meatballs held up perfectly in the sauce. This recipe could easily fool any meat eater!

These are also fantastic if you are making a meatball sub, as pictured above!*

*Notes

Just as a general guideline, I use about 7 1/2 cups of homemade marinara to cook the meatballs in. I use a large saucepan to make sure they all fit without overlapping, but are still able to be covered.

*If making these for a meatball sub, coat the meatballs with an outer layer of marinara sauce before putting them into the oven. I do not cook them in marinara sauce when using them in a sandwich. I just coat both insides of the bread with sauce and place the meatballs on, adding another layer over top of them. Then I add a layer of vegan cheese (be it daiya or homemade) and using a kitchen torch, I fire roast the cheese to melt it. This adds a wonderful smokiness to the cheese!