Five Vegetable Meatballs
Serves: 6
Prep time: 15
Cook time: 40
3 serves per portion
Recipe courtesy of Margaret Gallagher, Middle Ridge Branch
Ingredients:
2 large, sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 3cm cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil spread
½ cup milk, low fat
500g lean beef mince
1 cup rolled oats, soaked in ½ cup water
1 onion, finely diced
1 zucchini, grated
1 carrot, grated
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried herbs
1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
700g bottle of passata
420g can crushed tomatoes
Method:
PREHEAT oven to 160°C.
BOIL a large saucepan of water Add the sweet potatoes and cook until tender, about 10–12 minutes. While the potatoes are boiling, start preparing the meatballs.
COMBINE the beef mince, soaked oats, onion, zucchini, carrot, celery, pepper, dried herbs, and vegetable stock powder in a large bowl. Mix well until evenly combined.
ROLL all the mince mixture into balls about the size of golf balls.
HEAT olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Brown the meatballs on all sides, then remove from the pan.
SPREAD the passata and crushed tomatoes evenly over the base of a baking pan or casserole dish. Arrange the browned meatballs on top.
COOK the meatballs in the oven for around 30 minutes or until brown through when sliced open.
DRAIN sweet potatoes to start making the mash whilst meatballs are in the oven.
MASH sweet potato them with a fork or masher in a bowl, mixing in the olive oil spread and milk until smooth and without lumps.
SERVE meatballs on top of the mashed sweet potato.
What's Great About It:
Aside from being packed with five different vegetables, this recipe is versatile and easy to prepare in bulk. It can be cooked, served into equal portions and frozen for later or the meatballs made up and frozen raw for cooking later. You can also serve these meatballs with pasta and a sprinkle of parmesan instead of sweet potato. Feel free to add your favourite fresh herbs such as parsley or basil for some extra flavour.
