I dreamed this up whilst awake during the night, went straight to work on it the next afternoon and it really is a banger. So tasty, you would never know there was no oil and was low in fat and added salt. In baked form, this classic is great especially with the addition of a ‘cheezy’ topping, which was a last minute addition! Serve with salad leaves, cherry tomatoes and cucumber in balsamic vinegar dressing.

Time: Approximately 1hr 15mins

Ingredients – No Meat Balls

100g Whole wheat cous cous
1 x Tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 Red onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp Dried parsley
1 Tbsp Low sodium tamari or soy sauce
2 Cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tsp black pepper
1 Tsp oregano
1 Tsp Paprika
1/2 Tsp hot pepper sauce, ensure oil free and vegan
1/2 Tsp sea salt (optional)

Ingredients – Marinara Sauce

1Tbsp low sodium tamari or soy sauce and 2 Tbsp water
Half red onion finely chopped
2 Garlic cloves, crushed
100ml Red wine, ensure vegan
1 x Tin Chopped tomatoes
500g Passata
Good handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped including the stems
1 Tsp hot pepper sauce, ensure oil free and vegan
1 Tsp oregano
1/2 Tbsp date syrup ( you can use agarve or maple, but date is best)
1/2 Tsp black pepper
20g Fresh basil leaves removed from the thicker stalks and roughly torn.

Ingredients – Cheezy Sauce Topping

50g Oats
25g Cornmeal
6 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
1 Tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 Tsp Onion granules
1/2 Tsp Sea salt
400ml Soya milk, ensure oil free

Additional ingredient

220g whole wheat pasta such as fusilli or Penne

Method:

1 – Put the cous cous into a bowl, pour over boiling water until just covered the cous cous. Cover the bowl with a dry tea towel or plate.

2 – Put the oven on at 180 degrees C. Measure out the rest of the ingredients into a food processor. Pop the cous cous in at the end once it has soaked up all of the water.

3 – Blitz on medium, then high for about a minute until well mixed and a little sticky. You may need to scrape down a few times with a spatula to get it moving.

4 – Pick out about 2 tbsp worth in your hand and roll into a ball, the size doesn’t matter too much but the size I make them about the size of a golf ball or just a bit bigger. Pop onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Rinse out the food processor.

5 – Pop the tray into the oven and bake for 25 -30mins, turning the balls over half way. Remove and set aside.

6 – While the no meat balls are baking, start the marinara sauce. Add the tamari and water to a large saucepan or wok on a medium heat. pop in the onions and garlic and cook for around 3mins, stirring regularly.

7 – Pour in the wine, raise the heat a little and bring to a simmer, stirring often let it reduce slightly, about half.

8 – Stir in the tinned tomatoes and passata, stir for a minute or so.

9 – Next, tip in the parsley, hot sauce, oregano, date syrup and black pepper. Stir well for a few minutes.

10 – Finally add half of the basil leaves and bring the sauce to a simmer, and leave it bubbling away gently for about 15mins, stirring frequently to prevent any sticking.

11 – While the sauce is simmering, put a saucepan of water on high heat to bring to the boil. Once boiling add the pasta and cook to packet instructions. Once cooked, remove from heat and put in an empty sink to drain.

12 – Pour the sauce into a food processor, scraping it all out with a spatula. Blitz on high for about 30 seconds until relatively smooth. pour into a jug and set aside. Rinse the food processor

13 – Make the ‘cheezy’ topping. Put the ingredients into the food processor. If you have a Nutri Bullet or similar smoothie maker, this will make a smoother sauce. Blitz on high until as smooth as you can get it.

14 – Pour the ‘cheezy sauce into a saucepan and place on a medium heat. Stirring all the time, preferably with a spatula, so you can scrape the mixture of the bottom of the pan as it thickens. The sauce wants to be about the consistency of custard. Remove from the heat.

15 – In a large baking dish, pour in the pasta followed by a good amount of the marinara sauce (you may not need it all, if not retain some for another recipe) and the rest of the basil leaves. Stir the sauce so that the pasta is well covered.

16 – Evenly space around 9-10 of the ‘no meat’ balls into the dish, working them through the pasta and sauce until the hit the bottom of the dish.

17 – Pour over the ‘cheezy’ sauce and spread evenly over the top of the pasta, sauce and balls so that it completely covers them.

18 – Pop in the oven and bake for about 15mins until the sauce on top has set a little. remove and serve immediately.