As far as we’re concerned, vegetarian food gets a bad rep much too often, and if these Lentil and Mushroom Meatballs are anything to go by it’s definitely not deserved.
These vegetarian ‘meatballs’ are hearty, delicious, and easy to add into your favourite weekly pasta meal without too much effort. They’re also really good snacks, and they can definitely be eaten on their own or even taken to school or work as finger-food snacks. You will need a food processor for this recipe.
Method
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Preheat your oven to 200 degrees and prep a oven tray with baking paper.
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In a saucepan bring together the lentils, bay leaf, and vegetable stock. Boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, drain and let cool. Also remove the bay leaf after cooking
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Then in a food processor combine the lentils, oats, mushrooms, parsley and Italian seasoning. Pulse until all the large pieces have been minimised, but stop before the mixture becomes smooth mush.
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In a large skillet (or similar pan) over medium heat the olive oil. Once it's hot add the onion and a little bit of salt (optional). Cook until the onion is starting to turn gold at the edges, or around 5 minutes. Then add the garlic cloves and spin for a minute or less. Into the skillet then add the mix from the food processor, and stir until the mix is browned, about 5-10 minutes.
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Transfer the mix out of the pan into a heatproof bowl and leave to cool enough that it can be handled.
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In a separate bowl mix together whisk both of your eggs together. Then add them into the lentil mixture and combine well. Using your hands, scoop out small handfuls of the mixture and shape them into meatballs. You should be aiming for ping pong sized balls. Once they're shaped, pop them onto the baking sheet, making sure you leave a few cm of breathing room around each one. You should end up with about 15 meatballs.
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Bake in your preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until the meatballs are golden brown, then eat them however you like!
