When someone is vegan, a missed dish is often pasta and meatballs. This healthy and tasty "meatless" ball with white beans and mushrooms is a great substitute.
1 pound of rigatoni (or gluten-free)
1 organic yellow onion
6 ounces cremini or white button mushrooms
2 cups cooked white beans
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tsp nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon soy sauce or Tamari
4 or 5 sprigs organic fresh basil, copped
3 sprigs of rosemary stems removed and chopped
4 cloves of garlic grated. 1/2 for sauce and 1/2 for bean mixture
4 plum tomatoes, chopped (for sauce)
2 TBSP tomato paste
olive oil (2 TBSP to cook the meatballs and 1 TSP for sauce)
salt and pepper to taste
Bring a medium sauce pot of water to a boil. Add salt then add the rigatoni and cook until just tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain and return to the pot, toss with 1 to 3 teaspoons oil, and cover to keep warm.
While pasta cooks, peel and coarsely chop onion and finely chop the mushrooms.
In a medium sauce pot over medium-high heat, add olive oil and cook the onion and mushrooms and garlic until softened and golden about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Spread half the cornmeal in an even layer on a plate. Set aside the rest for the “meatball” mixture.
Add the beans to a medium bowl and using a fork, or potato masherl, mash the beans to a coarse paste. Add the mushroom mixture, the nutritional yeast, tamari rosemary and remaining cornmeal; season with salt and pepper and mix until just combined. Form 1-inch balls and roll each ball in the cornmeal, pressing lightly to coat all over.
In a large pan over medium-high heat, add the 2 tablespoons of oil until hot but not smoking. Working in batches if needed, add the balls and cook, gently turning occasionally, until browned all over, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add more oil between batches if needed.
While the “meatballs” cook, prepare the tomato sauce - tear the basil leaves from the stems; coarsely chop the leaves to add when sauce is finished. .
Add 1 TSBP of olive oil to saucepan. When how add garlic, taking care not to burn. When garlic is golden in about one minute, add the plum tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring to a boil then cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally and pressing on tomatoes to release juices, for about ten minutes. Remove from the heat and season to taste with salt and pepper and add basil.
Transfer the rigatoni and mushroom marinara to individual bowls and top with the “meatballs.”
This dish serves 4.