I was a vegetarian until I started leaning toward the sunlight.
Rita Rudner
So… yesterday I cheated on our meatless dinner. So today I thought I would make a true vegetarian dinner.
White Kidney Bean “Meatballs”
1 19 oz. can White Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed
1 roasted red bell pepper roughly chopped
½ medium yellow onion, grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup chopped Italian parsley
1 ½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 ½ teaspoon dried basil
1 egg
½ cup panko
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray a baking sheet with Pam.
In your food processor, combine beans and roasted red peppers. Pulse until chopped, but not smoothly pureed.
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| Rinsed white kidney beans |
I use my Ultimate Chopper to “grate” onions. I put the parsley, garlic and onions in there to chop up!
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| Processor to pulse & chopper to “grate” |
Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and stir in onion, garlic, parsley, basil, oregano, egg, panko, salt and pepper until well combined.
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| Mix it all up |
Form “meatballs” by rolling about 2 tablespoons of the bean mixture between the palms of your hands. Place the “meatballs” on the prepared baking sheet.
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| TA DA! |
Bake until the meatballs are firm to the touch and have developed a light golden brown coating, about 20 minutes.
Marinara
2 yellow onions, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh Basil, minced
1 tablespoon honey
2 28oz cans of plum tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of cayenne
Put oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and heat until they start to caramelize.
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| Onions, garlic and basil |
Add the garlic and fresh basil, cook for 5 minutes.
Mill the tomatoes then add them, the tomato paste and the honey, stir to combine.
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| I love my mill… it takes the acidity out of the sauce! |
Bring to a simmer and cook on low, stirring occasionally for at least 2 hours.
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| Stop right here!! This is when the sauce was at it’s best! |
Add salt and pepper and a pinch of cayenne.
Fettuccini
2 cups AP flour
3 eggs
pinch of salt and pepper
Make a well of flour in your mixer bowl. Crack eggs in the middle and season with salt & pepper. Mix the eggs into the flour slowly. Put on your dough hook and turn on low until elasticky.
Turn out and cut into 4 balls. Flatten and wrap in plastic and put into fridge while you get your pasta maker out.
Roll your dough through your pasta maker and hang to dry. Today I didn’t bother getting out the drying rack I usually use… I just laid it to dry on tea towels.
Roll your dough through your pasta maker and hang to dry. Today I didn’t bother getting out the drying rack I usually use… I just laid it to dry on tea towels.
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| Ninja helping me out… pasta is easiest with 4 hands! |
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| Drying in bundles |
Boil a pot of salted water and cook the noodles for about 4 minutes. Empty into a colander and rinse under cold water.
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| Homemade noodles! |
Cannellini Bean “Meatballs” with Marinara over Fettuccini
Add “meatballs” to marinara.
Serve over cooked fettuccini.
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| Looks good…. but is it? |
I have to say… this meal was terrible. I hated it. So did Mom. Dad and Ninja thought it was OK, but a bit dry. The noodles were great, like usual but the marinara was dry, maybe I cooked it down too long? It was awesome before the 2 hour simmer time. The “meatballs”, well maybe I just like meat. The taste was definitely there but the texture…. I just couldn’t get over it. HoneyBear ate her bites to get her cupcake but this was not a hit. Well they can’t all be winners 🙂
