Veggie balls with creamy polenta and tomato sauce
Ingredients
Tomato sauce
- 2 large cans tomato passata
- 1 tablespoon dehydrated onion
- 1 teaspoon dehydrated garlic
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes
- 5-6 sprigs fresh thyme
- kosher salt & freshly ground pepper
Polenta
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 2 cups 35% cream
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 crushed clove of garlic
- 1 cup fine yellow polenta
- ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Torn fresh basil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 8 – 10 Rodney's veggie balls (see recipe above)
Veggie balls
- 1 can lentils drained and rinsed
- 3 cup cremini mushrooms chopped
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 1 cup celery, chopped
- 1 cup carrot, chopped
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 sweet potato cooked and peeled
- ½ cup parsley
- ¼ -½ cup chickpea flour
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ pack onion soup mix
Directions
Veggie Balls
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Throw the garlic, mushroom, carrot, onion ,celery. Into a food processor and purée
- Cook this mixture in a saucepan on medium-high heat until most of water is cooked out and the flavor is concentrated. Add back into the food processor.
- To the food processor, add the sweet potato, parsley, onion soup mix and lentils. Pulse.
- Pulse the mixture so some of the lentils are being mashed and some keep their shape.
- Take the mixture out of the food processor and place in big bowl. Add the chickpea flour and taste for seasoning. Mix well so the entire lentil mixture is seasoned.
Tomato Sauce
- Combine tomatoes with garlic,1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper in a sauce pot on medium heat and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 20 minutes.
Polenta
- Grate cheese and chop butter into large pieces. Set aside.
- Pour 100 ml of cream into the corneal and bring together
- Combine the stock, garlic, bay leaves and the rest of the cream and a generous pinch of salt in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
- Slowly whisk the polenta into the hot liquid, whisking briskly to prevent clumping .
- Reduce the heat to low and cook, whisking constantly, for about 10 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed.
- To finish Add the cheese and butter, season with salt and pepper, stirring gently until incorporated.
- Spoon a mound of soft polenta on each of 4 or 6 plates or shallow bowls.
- Ladle with the baked veggie balls over the polenta and garnish with basil , extra virgin olive oil and grated parmesan.
