We are opening the new year with a vegan recipe, just in time for the Veganuary challenge.
The idea of going vegan for the month of January is becoming more and more popular – this year, about 500,000 people joined this initiative, which is a new record for the non-profit British organisation!
Our lentil non-meat balls are part of a series of healthy Italian-inspired dishes that Jennifer and I created together.
Jennifer Cauli is a friend and a talented food & travel photographer who also comes from Italy. Together we joined forces to create a series of recipes (and pictures) that would use the typical Italian ingredients, but also have a contemporary and healthy twist.
We are very happy of our project and we hope to continue offering you great recipe ideas.
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Serves 2 people
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE LENTIL BALLS (32-35 balls)
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp paprika
1 shallot
1 tsp oregano
80g potato
100g dry lentils
2g salt
one twist of black pepper
a handful of parsley
50g oat flour
TOMATO SAUCE
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 onion (45g)
1 garlic clove
1 red chilli
3g salt
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
2 small courgettes
Soak the lentils in water for about 3 hours.
Fill a pan with water and bring to a boil. Cook lentils for about
30minutes or until they are soft.
For better results taste your lentils to check when they are
ready.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into small cubes. In a separate
pan cook the potatoes previously cut in boiling water for
about 25 minutes.
Now in a food processor blend in the lentils to form a smooth
cream, then mash your potatoes and incorporate them into
the mix together with the rest of the ingredients.
Using your hands shape the mix into balls of about 3cm
diameter. Then roll the balls into the oat flour to form a coating.
Arrange the lentil balls in a large tray previously covered with
baking paper.
Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes or until they fully
cooked and crunchy on the outside.
To make the tomato sauce, finely chop the onion and the chili
and slice the garlic in a half.
Take a small pan to cook these ingredients together in olive oil
for about 3-4 minutes.
Then pour in the tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes.
Season to taste.
Then lightly blanch your zucchetti in boiling water with salt
for 30-60 seconds.
Now you can assemble the plate with all your ingredients.
We hope you will enjoy it!
You may have heard before that in the Western world we generally eat more than the recommended amount of red and processed meat. This over consumption of meat has been linked to heart disease, stroke, cancer, and also environmental pollution.
As a nutritionist I often need to remind my patients about the health risks of eating too much meat. I believe eating meat in moderation can be extremely healthy for certain people, however, I very much like the idea of one month a year of “full meat detox”, especially after the Christmas parties and dinners.
Some great plant-based foods that are rich in proteins are nuts & seeds (pumpkin seeds, hemp, linen seeds, etc… almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios…) and legumes such as beans and lentils, but also eating whole grains can help you reaching your daily protein intake which is 0.8g per kilogram of body weight.
We prepared these lentil polpette (non-meat balls) with tomato sauce and courgetti as we wanted to show how easy it is to cook vegan and still use some of those comforting flavours which remind us of home.
Lentils can be a great alternative to meat. They are definitely high in protein, containing about 9g of protein per 100g, and they are also rich in fibre which make them a good food for our digestion and blood-sugar balance.
Courgette spaghetti instead of regular wheat spaghetti for reducing refined carb consumption as well, on top of increasing fibre intake.
Cromo Nutrition 