Meatless Mushroom Meatballs
Ingredients
3lbs. Mushrooms diced
1 yellow onion finely chopped
5 cloves garlic minced
1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1 heaping cup of organic quick Oats (blended)
1 egg
1/4 cup of chopped cilantro/parsley
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 oregano
salt
3 Tbls. olive oil
1/2Tbl butter
salt
How To Prepare
In a very large and deep frying pan or a dutch oven or Le Creuset on medium high heat, heat up the 3 Tbls. of olive oil. Add your mushrooms and 1 tsp of salt to draw out the moisture. With a wooden spoon coat the mushrooms evenly with the olive oil and let the water from the mushrooms evaporate. Once the mushrooms are lightly browned, add the butter and all of the finely chopped onions, mix sparingly for about 10 mins or until the mushrooms and onions are perfectly browned. Turn the burner to simmer then add in all of your minced garlic- mix it all together.
*If you like washing your mushrooms with water; make sure before you start to use a salad spinner and pat dry as much as possible. You may have an excess of water, so at this point you will need to drain the water with a fine mesh colander.
** I suggest rubbing the mushrooms clean with a paper towel or a special mushroom brush.
Transfer all your ingredients into a large mixing bowl then add in 1/2 a cup of blended oats at a time until there are no more visibly dry oats in the mixture.
Place the mixing bowl in the fridge for about15 mins to cool everything down. Make sure it’s at room temperature before this next step. Mix in one egg. Add in grated parmesan cheese, mix it all together.
Finally mix in your cilantro, cayenne pepper, and oregano. You’re going to want to let the meatless meatball mixture marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours but I suggest overnight for a more flavorful meatball.
When the mixture is ready, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Using a cookie scoop, form the meatballs and place on a cookie sheet (I used parchment paper as well to ensure it didn’t stick to the pan).
This makes approx. 34 meatballs. If you decide to freeze some, they don’t take long to thaw, so take them out of the freezer 15 mins prior to reheating in a large saucepan with a drizzle of olive oil to avoid any sticking to the pan.
Enjoy over your favorite spaghetti or linguine with freshly grated parmesan cheese!
Buon appetito!
