Ww Spaghetti With Bean Ball Sauce
Why I Love This Recipe
Ok they say to make one recipe of the sauce, 1/2 lb. whole wheat spaghetti, and this recipe of bean balls. However, I doubled the sauce, made a full pound of spaghetti and this was plenty of bean balls. We like things saucy so I might even triple the sauce next time.
Ingredients You'll Need
1 20 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained (about 3 cups)
2 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS steak sauce or tomato paste (we used tomato paste)
2 TBS olive oil, plus some for frying or baking
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp grated lemon zest (we left this out)
1/2 c. plain bread crumbs (I sliced my whole wheat bread thinly, toasted it, then put it in the food processor)
1/4 c. vital wheat gluten (they say this makes a chewier texture than WW flour, but I did 2 TBS of each)
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
Directions
Put water on the stove to boil the spaghetti.
Prepare the beanball mixture:
Mash the kidney beans in a mixing bowl until no whole beans are left. Use a potato masher, fork or whatever. You should still be able to recognize that they are kidney beans. Add soy sauce, steak sauce or tomato paste, 2 TBS olive oile, garlic, (lemon zest), bread crumbs, wheat gluten (or flour), and herbs and use a fork to mix everything together. Use your hands to knead the mixture for about a minute until everything is well combined and firm.
Roll the bean mixture into walnut-sized balls. They say smaller makes a better texture and you should have 12-15 balls. I made 20 balls and they were still a bit big. So I'd go 20-25, personally.
Add pasta to water and cook according to package directions.
Bake the beanballs.
Baking: grease a rimmed cookie sheet with olive oil. Put balls on sheet. Bake 15 minutes until lightly browned on the bottom, then flip and bake another 10. Remove from oven and pour about 1/3 c. of marinara on them, flipping to coat. Bake for an additional 5.
Drain spaghetti and pour in remaining marinara. Serve it up and top with bean balls.
(from Bobe - found in Veganomicon)
