Meatless Meatball Subs

Day 43

This will be our first attempt at meatless meatballs. I was curious to compare them to other meatballs. We found the recipe at All Recipes and this is one of Chef John's so we knew it would be a great recipe, just didn't know how it measures up to ground beef ones. Laura made our standard marinara to serve them in.

Meatless Meatball Sub

Marinara Sauce

1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
4 tbsp chopped Italian parsley
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp fresh basil

Directions

Heat 2 tbsp oil in frying pan and saute the onion until clear.

Sauteed onions

Add garlic, and saute with the onion for a minute, then turn heat way down and add the basil (because ours was frozen, so we had to turn the heat down and wait for it to thaw). 

Onions, garlic, basil

At this point, we generally add the sugar to caramelize the onions but sometimes we forget - like tonight - and add it to the sauce later.

Fresh Italian parsley

Heat crushed tomatoes and tomato paste in a large pot.

Crushed tomatoes & tomato paste

Parsley added

Marinara sauce

Add the rest of the ingredients tomato mixture, then scrape in the onion and herb mixture. Simmer for 1/2 hour.

Meatless Meatballs

Original recipe here

1 tbsp olive oil
1 pound fresh white mushrooms, finely chopped
1 pinch salt
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats (we used rolled instead)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, very finely shredded
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, packed
3 eggs, to add separately
1 tsp salt
black pepper to taste
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
1 pinch dried oregano

Directions

(As adapted from Chef John's original recipe)

Chop and mince mushrooms, onions, garlic, etc.

Chopped mushrooms

Meatlessball ingredients

In a skillet on med-high, heat olive oil then add mushrooms and sprinkle with salt. Cook until liquid completely evaporates then add the butter and reduce the heat to medium. Cook about 5 more minutes until brown.

Mushrooms cooking

Adding butter to brown the mushrooms

Stir the onion into the mushrooms and cook until translucent, about another 5 minutes. Take it off the heat and stir the garlic in and continue stirring about 1 minute. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool.

Mix oats into mushroom mixture until thoroughly combined. Gently stir 1/2 cup of parmesan into mixture. Add bread crumbs, 1/4 cup parsley, and 1 egg; season with salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and oregano. Mix with a fork.

Mushroom mixture, bread crumbs, parsley, parmesan, 

salt, pepper & 1 of the eggs, uncombined

Stir in another egg. Mix together with a fork until crumbly and the finally stir in remaining egg. We had to add an extra egg because we substituted quick oats with rolled oats, which seem to absorb a lot more moisture. Mixture should hold together when pressed.

Meatless meatball mixture

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Chef John says at least 4 hours and for best flavor and texture, refrigerate overnight, but we only refrigerated ours for 2 1/2 hours and they were still fantastic.

Go find something else to eat at this point. We had hummus and pitas.

Remove from fridge. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Form mixture into small meatballs. Roll meatballs lightly between your hands until smooth and arrange meatballs on prepared baking sheet.

Uncooked meatless balls

Bake in the preheated oven until meatballs are lightly golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.

Cooked meatless balls

Gently stir meatballs into marinara sauce until coated and simmer until cooked through, about 20 minutes.

Meatless balls in marinara

Meatless Meatball Subs

Making a meatball sub is easy once the balls are made.

Spoon the balls onto a sub bun and top with whatever you like; mozzarella, parmesan, olives, vegetables. Some people even add mayo. Pop it into the oven  at 350 for about 5 minutes to toast.

Soft yummy sub buns

Meatless meatball subs

Reviews/Comments

My curiosity has been satisfied. I now know what meatless meatballs taste like. Soooooo effing good...unbelievable...better than ANY meatball I have ever had, no lie. They should be renamed to Meatless Amazeballs. You might not notice they are beefless if you were to unknowingly try them. You would just think you've come across the best meatball you've ever had, without questioning the lack of meat. Truly amazing.

Laura: Is it possible to give this a 15?