THIS recipe WAS A LITTLE EXPERIMENT THAT TURNED OUT BETTER THAN I COULD imagine. FIRST, I MADE MEATLESS BALLS, BUT THEN I FOUND OUT THAT BY MIXING THEM WITH TOMATO SAUCE, I CAN CREATE AN OUTSTANDING BOLOGNESE, WHICH I SERVED WITH TORTILLAS. HEAVENLY!

Ingredients

For 15 balls:

• quinoa (1/3 cup)

• champignons (250 g)

• hemp or buckwheat flour (1,5 tbsp)

• paprika

• turmeric

• curry

• salt

• mustard (1 tbsp)

• tomato sauce (3 tbsp)

For the sauce:

• tomato sauce (300 g)

• fresh oregano

Method

In salted water, cook quinoa.

Meanwhile, cut champignons into thin slices, put in a pan, add a pinch or two of salt, a dash of curry, and mustard. Mix well and fry them on higher heat. If they start to stick to the pan before they are ready, add some water and stir. Turn off the heat once they get a nice brown crust. Add them to a bowl with the cooked quinoa and mix well. Continue by adding flour and all other spices + 3 spoons of tomato sauce. By rolling the “dough”, create about 3-4 cm big balls and place them on a tray with parchment paper.

Bake at 200°C for 20-25 minutes. They are ready once they develop a pleasant smell and get a crust.

a) FOR MEATLESS BALLS

Pour tomato sauce (for that, you will need more than 300 g) in a pot, mix in thinly chopped oregano (fresh) and cook for a few minutes for the flavours to “connect”. Before serving, put the freshly baked balls in a bowl with the sauce. Serve with your favourite side dish.

 b) FOR BOLOGNESE

For bolognese, put the meatless balls in a bowl with 300g of tomato sauce, add fresh, chopped oregano and mix, until the balls lose their shape. I microwaved the mixture for about 7 minutes for the flavours to develop.

P.S: This version of bolognese goes excellent with tortillas. You can get my recipe for tortillas here.

Bon appetit!