Serves 4
Directions
- 1Add oil to a non-stick frying pan on a medium heat.
- 2Add the chopped onion and cook for 8 minutes until caramelized.
- 3Next, add the chopped garlic and cook for another 1-2 minutes until caramelized.
- 4Transfer the caramelized onion and garlic to a food processor.
- 5Add walnuts, dried apricots, tinned beans (such as borlotti), lemon zest, fresh rosemary, soy sauce, a pinch of salt, and a large pinch of pepper to the food processor.
- 6Pulse the mixture until it has mostly broken down and no large pieces remain.
- 7Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl.
- 8Add breadcrumbs to the mixture and combine using your hands to give the mixture structure.
- 9Shape the mixture into evenly-sized balls.
- 10Add another splash of oil to the pan you used earlier.
- 11Add the balls to the pan and fry them until they are crispy and brown on all sides.
- 12Add vegetable stock to a large saucepan and bring it to a boil.
- 13Add the orzo to the boiling vegetable stock and gently boil until al dente, stirring to prevent sticking.
- 14When the orzo is cooked, reduce the heat and stir in vegan cream cheese.
- 15Add nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and pinches of salt and pepper to the orzo and mix well.
- 16Finely chop a bunch of basil.
- 17Combine the finely chopped basil with olive oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl to make a simple dressing.
- 18To serve, add the creamy orzo to bowls.
- 19Top the orzo with the meatless meatballs and drizzle with the basil oil dressing.
Ingredients
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 320 g orzo
- 4 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 150 g vegan cream cheese
- 1 lemon lemon, juice only
- 1 large handful basil, leaves picked
- olive oil
- 1 onion onion, peeled + chopped
- 4 cloves garlic cloves, peeled + chopped
- 100 g walnut halves
- 2 x 400g tins of borlotti beans, drained + rinsed
- 1 lemon lemon, zest only
- 2 sprigs sprigs of rosemary, leaves picked
- 100 g dried apricots
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 large pinch pepper
- 80 g breadcrumbs
Equipment
non-stick frying panfood processorlarge mixing bowllarge saucepanbowl
Tips
- If the meatball mixture feels too dry, add a drizzle of oil to help bind the ingredients.
- For the creamiest orzo, cook it in vegetable stock rather than boiling and draining, as this captures all the starch.
- Add extra hot water from a kettle to the orzo if necessary during cooking to prevent sticking and achieve desired consistency.
- You can use any type of tinned beans for the meatballs, such as borlotti beans.
- The recipe suggests calling the meatless spherical objects "meatballs" because they look and taste like them, despite being plant-based
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