Spaghetti and Meatballs gets a fun vegetarian make-over with plump delicious mushrooms and protein-packed quinoa. These vegetarian meatballs are delicious served over spaghetti with a rich tomato sauce.
Course Main Course
Cuisine vegetarian
Keyword Delicious Everyday, how to make vegetarian meatballs, meatless meatballs, quinoa meatballs, Spaghetti recipe, vegetarian meatballs recipe
Rinse the quinoa well in a fine mesh sieve under cold running water. Place in a saucepan with the water and a pinch of salt and bring to the boil. Cover and cook for 12 to 20 minutes. Check after 12 minutes to see if the quinoa is tender and you can see the little quinoa "tails" appear. (Cooking times can vary by brand, so check the package directions.)
Heat a large frying pan over a medium low heat and 2 tsp olive oil and add the onions cook until lightly golden. Remove from the pan and place in a large bowl. Increase the heat to medium high and add another 2 tsp of olive oil. When the pan has come to heat add the mushrooms, garlic and thyme and cook for 2 minutes. Add the soy sauce and cook for a further 2 minutes or until the liquid has almost evaporated. Place in the same bowl as the onions and leave to cool.
Add the cooled quinoa to the bowl along with the onions and mushrooms. Add the breadcrumbs and parsley and mix to combine. Test and adjust seasonings with sea salt and pepper as necessary. Add the beat egg and mix until well combined.
Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Place a large frying pan over a medium heat. Using a dessert spoon as a measure, form the mixture into vegetarian "meatballs". If the mixture feels too loose, and is difficult to form into balls, add more breadcrumbs and refrigerate for another 30 minutes before forming into "meatballs".
Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to the pan and fry the "meatballs", on all sides, carefully turning them with a spatula, in batches until golden. Place on a plate lined with paper towel.
Wipe out the frying pan and place it over a medium low heat and add the remaining oil. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the garlic, carrot, thyme and rosemary and cook until the onion turns golden and soft. Increase the heat to medium high and add the red wine. Cook until the red wine has almost evaporated before adding the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and adjust as necessary. Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to low and add the "meatballs" and cover.
When the meatballs go into the pan start the spaghetti. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and season well with salt. Add the spaghetti and cook according to the packet instructions.
Drain the spaghetti and top with the "meatballs" and sauce and serve immediately.
Notes
I used red quinoa here which helps the vegetarian "meatballs" look more like regular meatballs, but if you only have white quinoa on hand that's perfectly fine.