Vegan Mofo #12 - Celine and Joni’s Meatfree Balls...

Vegan Mofo #12 - Celine and Joni’s Meatfree Balls

The Book - The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutes
The Author - Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman
The Recipe - MeatfFree Balls
Page # 114
Difficulty - Easy
Duration - Roughly 35 minutes

I could gush about these meatfree balls for ages! Seriously, I’ve made several different meatless ball recipes, some that use seitan, some that use tempeh and beans, some that use TVP and I’ve never really been satisfied. Some have had better flavor then others and some have had better texture then others, but these are hands down the best I’ve ever tried. I’ve actually been wanting to make them since getting this book last winter and I just never got around to it, thanks to Mofo I finally found the time.

The balls are really ingenious, and made with ingredients I never would have thought of. I mean unsweetened applesauce? Really? But I’ll tell you, it freaking works! In addition to the sauce there’s peanut oil, nutritional yeast, wheat gluten, onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper, bread crumbs and BBQ sauce. That’s it, I know it doesn’t sound like a lot but somehow it works. Celine and Joni suggest making a double batch of the recipe which I actually did because even though they say it makes 8 balls, I found they were rather on the small side. Although next time I make these I think I’ll quadruple the recipe.

Once the balls are shaped you wrap them in parchment paper and bake them for 20 minutes, then flip and bake for another 8-10 minutes. Once finished you can use them how you like, in a pasta, in a sweet and sour meatball dish, or as they suggest in a meatball sub sandwich.

Despite the fact that I’ve never actually liked meatball sub sandwiches in the past, it was this last option that intrigues me most and had me salivating. The picture alone looked so incredible that I thought if the finished product tasted even half as good as it looked it would be a winner. They suggest serving the sub 1 of two ways. Either with BBQ sauce and coleslaw, or Marinara Sauce and Vegan Mozzarella. I decided on the Marinara and Mozzarella for a more traditional sub. I also added in some arugula and green onion for a little extra flavor punch and it was fantastic!  Once you pile on your marinara and mozzarella you broil the sub for a few minutes until the sauce is war, the cheese is melted and the bread is toasty and it all becomes one ooey gooey delicious mess! I really can not wait to make these again, and I can’t wait to try the BBQ-Slaw variation.

In any case I know I’ll never use another “Meatball” recipe again because  these are literally to die for.