Vegan Spinach Balls with Pesto Sauce

This was a very nice diner that we enjoyed last night.

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

for the spinach balls:

• 4 slices day old bread
• 16 ounce package fresh spinach, washed
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 large or 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dill
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly group black pepper
• 2 egg replacement equivalents
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• pinch nutmeg
• oil for frying the spinach balls

for the vegan basil walnut pesto:

• 2 cups tightly packed basil
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 2 – 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste
• splash Tabasco (optional)

Directions:

to make the spinach balls:

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan.
2. Add the minced garlic and lightly sauté.
3. Add the spinach and sauté until wilted.
4. Using a food processor, pulse the bread to be bread crumbs.
5. Add the thyme and black pepper.
6. Add the wilted spinach with its juices and oil and pulse again to mix.
7. Add the nutritional yeast and nutmeg, and season to taste with salt as desired.
8. Mix the egg replacements with water, add to the mixture and pulse well to blend.
9. At the very end, add the chopped onions and pulse again. You don’t want the onions minced too small, but well mixed with the other ingredients.
10. Form walnut sized balls from a generous tablespoon of the mixture.
11. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the spinach balls evenly.

to make the pesto:

1. Place the basil, garlic, lemon juice and oil in a blender and plus to a smooth consistency.
2. Add the walnut pieces and pulse again until it is smooth.
3. Add the nutritional yeast and pulse.
4. Add the salt and pepper and optional Tabasco, pulse again to mix.

We enjoyed the spinach balls with pesto served on a traditional plate of vegan spaghetti.

Notes:
You can also used chopped frozen spinach.

Author: Chris Walker. This entry was posted on Monday, September 3rd, 2012 at 9:01 pm. It is filed under Main Dishes, Spinach, Walnut. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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