Recipe by Nadia Fragnito

Enjoy these nourishing walnut meatballs with pasta or crusty bread for a hearty Italian meal that will impress the whole family.

Serves: 6 
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

Walnut Polpette

• 2 cups walnuts
• 2 slices seeded bread (or your favourite bread)
• 1 tablespoon vegan ‘beef’ style stock powder
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
• ¼ cup water
• handful of fresh parsley
• several generous dashes of liquid smoke (optional)

Pomodoro Sugo

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
• 700g tomato passata
• 1 teaspoon salt
• few basil leaves (optional)

Method

Walnut Polpette

Into a blender or food processor, pulse walnuts and bread briefly.

Add remaining ingredients except the water and process until it begins to resemble mince. Now with the blender still running, add the water. The mixture should now be moist and malleable.

Roll the mixture into balls the size of a walnut shell (or slightly larger if you like) and place on an oven tray lined with baking paper.

Bake in a preheated 180C oven for 25 minutes. Turning over carefully half way through.

Meanwhile, make the pomodoro sauce.

Pomodoro sugo

In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over a low-medium heat and add the garlic. Allow the garlic to infused for 1-2 minutes, stirring often, ensuring it doesn’t brown.

Stir through the passata, salt and basil leaves. Cover and simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once out of the oven, stir the polpette gently through the tomato sugo and simmer on low for a few minutes so the balls soak up some of the liquid.

Remove from the heat and stir through your favourite pasta or enjoy on their own as a side or starter along with fresh crusty bread for dipping.

NOTE: This dish can easily be made gluten free – just replace with slices of your favourite gluten free bread/breadcrumbs.

Nutritional Guide

Amount per serving:

If you would like to become a Happy Vegan Living recipe contributor – contact us via our social pages or on our Contact Us page.

Recipe by Nadia Fragnito

You won’t need that dairy version anymore – a block of tofu, a few flavourful additions and you can create your very own creamy dreamy alternative.

Ingredients

• 250g firm tofu
• 1/4 cup full-fat soy milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• extra generous glug of olive oil

to serve: cracked black pepper and drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Method

​Add all ingredients to a food processor. Process until it reaches a ricotta consistency, smooth but with a touch of graininess. While the blender is running, add a dash more soy milk for extra creaminess.

For an authentic looking ricotta, press into a ricotta cheese mould, wrap and leave in the fridge for 3 hours to overnight. When ready to serve unmould onto a plate, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with black pepper.

Nutritional Guide

Amount per serving:

If you would like to become a Happy Vegan Living recipe contributor – contact us via our social pages or on our Contact Us page.