Vegan "meatball" spaghetti

Spaghetti is and will always be one of my favourite dishes and I crave it weekly… seriously.
It’s just one of those dishes that makes my mouth water and I can’t get enough from. As a kid, I always loved eating meatballs with my pasta with a yummy, tasteful tomato sauce. My mom loves to make food from worldwide cuisines and this definitely was one of my favourite’s whenever she was making something from the Italian cuisine.

How lucky I was today to have my beautiful Italian friend, Chiara, with me when I was going to make this recipe.
Earlier this week I already planned on cooking and photographing this recipe today. When I woke up this morning, I had a text from Chiara asking to meet up and when I told her about my plan… Oh, she was in for some cooking and I was lucky enough to learn from her Italian cooking skills, and now you do too!

Every single bite I had from this dish took me right back to when I was a little kid and was slurping my spaghetti away. It also reminded me a second of the lady and the tramp movie!

Also, how great is it that we have so many Plant-Based options these days that we still get to enjoy the food and dishes we grew up with without harming other living creatures?

 
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INGREDIENTS (4 portions):

  • 400g Vegan Mince (I used mince from The Meatless farm Co)

  • 1 red onion

  • 3 garlic cloves

  • 2 carrots

  • 2 celery stalks

  • 500g canned plum tomatoes

  • Pasta (White or wholewheat, depending on your preference)

  • 1 tsp Hot chili powder

  • 1 tbsp Paprika powder

  • 1 tbsp Garlic granules

  • 4 tbsp Italian herbs mic (Oregano, Basil,

  • Pink himalayan salt

  • Peper

  • Olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

“Meatballs”:

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  • Pré-heat the oven on 180°C/356F

  • In a large mixing bowl, add the vegan mince and all the herbs (1 tsp hot chili powder, 1 tbsp paprika powder, 1 tbsp garlic granules, 2 tbsp italian herbs, pepper & salt) and knead it all together with your hands

  • Once everything is kneaded well, start rolling the mixture into balls (I made 12 medium sized balls) and put them on an oven tray

  • Cook for approx. 20 minutes (might slightly be different depending on what vegan mince you’re using) on 180°C/356F

Sauce:

  • Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a saucepan and turn on medium-heat

  • In the meantime, chop the onion and 3 garlic cloves

  • Add the onion and garlic to your saucepan and let it cook until golden-brown

  • Grate the carrots and chop the celery and add it to the saucepan and let it all cook together for 5minutes

  • Add the canned plum tomatoes to the saucepan and cut open the plum tomatoes in the pan

  • Add 125ml water

  • Add herbs (2tbsp italian herbs, peper & salt)

  • Turn on the heat to high-heat and let it boil for 15 to 20 minutes

Pasta:

  • Cook pasta in boiling water (read label, depending on pasta you chose, for cooking time)

Enjoy!.png