Ingredients
Wet
- 2 tbs Vegetable Oil
- 1 Onion blitzed
- 1 stick Celery blitzed
- 11 oz/300g Chesnut Mushrooms blitzed
- 5 cloves Garlic blitzed
- 1 tbs Dried Oregano
- 1 tbs Dried Basil
- 1 tbs Dried Sage
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tbs Dried Rosemary
- 1 tsp Cracked Black Pepper
- 2 tsp Sea Salt
- 1 cup/240ml Red Wine
- 1 cup/240ml Vegetable Stock
- 3 tbs Tomato Puree
- 1 tbs Miso Paste
- 1 cup/200g firm tofu patted dry & crumbled fine
Dry
- 3 & 1/4 cups/415g Vital Wheat Gluten
Broth Roasting Ingredients
- 1 & 1/2 cups/360ml Red Wine
- 1 cup/200g Chopped Tomatoes from a can
- 1 & 1/2 cups/360ml Vegetable Stock
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 tbs Sea Salt
- 2 tsp Black Pepper
- Handful Fresh Thyme
- 1 Sprig of Rosemary
Tomato Sauce
- 1 White Onion finely chopped
- 3 Cloves of Garlic minced
- Handful Fresh Thyme chopped
- 2 tsp Sea Salt
- 2 tsp Cracked Black Pepper
- 1 cup/240ml Red Wine
- 1 can Chopped Tomatoes
- 1/2 cup Water
- 1 tbs Tomato Puree
Instructions
- Deglaze the pan with the red wine & vegetable stock, then bring to a light simmer.
- Crumble in the tofu then allow the mix to simmer for a 4-5 minutes. Turn the heat off then prepare your mixer.
- Add the wheat gluten to your mixer or a large mixing bowl (if hand kneading). Add the wet mix to the mixer & let it mix for 10 minutes at a medium speed. If kneading by hand, knead as firmly as you can for 12 minutes, not kneading enough will result in soft spongey meatballs.
- After kneading, ball the dough up into meatballs, I recommend balls that are 40g in weight.
- After balling place them into a deep baking tray ready for sautéing.
- Pre heat your oven to 175 degrees C.
- Add a touch of oil to a non stick pan placed over a medium heat, sauté the meatballs for 3-4 minutes, turning often until caramelised.
- Place the caramelised meatballs back into the tray and add the broth roasting ingredients. Give the tray a shake and cover over with foil.
- Place the tray into your oven for 90 minutes. After 90 minutes, your meatballs are done
- Meatballs should be made in advance & can be stored in your fridge for 1 week or in the freezer for 3 months.
- Before serving, I make a quick simple tomato sauce to serve with the meatballs. To a saucepan placed over a low heat with a touch of oil added, add onion, garlic, fresh thyme & seasoning – cook until golden. Deglaze the pan with red wine, a can of chopped tomatoes & a touch of water (to swill out excess tomato left in the can). Add some tomato puree then leave to simmer away for 10-12 minutes, stirring every now and then.
- I like to sauté the cooked meatballs before serving then I add them to the tomato sauce, before serving with fresh pasta.