Meatless "Meat"balls Done Three Ways

This holiday season we went for some unique choices for our main courses as we try to cut down our meat consumption. I made my first vegetarian nut loaf for Christmas, which I will not share with you since it was weird and made me sad. However, for New Years Day I scored BIG on my "meat"balls. I adapted a recipe I found at Very Innovative Parties and my guess is this will be a "go to" recipe in the future for me. I cooked them with a sweet and sour sauce, recipe below as well. 

Here is the basic recipe for the "meat"balls: 

5 eggs(yes, you need them all) 

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (Tillamook cheddar is my favorite, but any cheese would work)

1/2 of a medium onion, roughly chopped

1 cup nuts (walnuts or pecans)

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried sage

4 slices of any nutty whole wheat bread (torn by hand works fine, pretty small pieces)

1. Mix all ingredients in a food processor till well blended if you have one. I don’t have a food processor so I used my braun hand mixer, start with the nuts and onion and blend until paste like, then add the other ingredients and mix by hand.  

2. The mixture will be wet, but you should be able to scoop up a bit and form it into a ball. If not, add more breadcrumbs. I used 1/4 cup of Italian breadcrumbs from my pantry. Form into balls, a small ice cream scooper works well, then place in a baking dish. It’s ok if they’re touching and spread a little.

3. If you are going to use them in place of meatballs with pasta or to bbq, they can be cooked plain at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes. They are done when lightly toasted and dry to the touch. The "meat"balls can be used immediately or frozen. 

Sweet and Sour Sauce:

Follow the recipe above until step 2, then make the following sauce:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup vinegar

1 cup apricot jam or preserves 

1 cup ketchup

1 tsp oregano or basil

Dash of hot sauce (or more)

1. Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl, whisking till well blended.

2. Pour over the prepared meatballs, being sure to cover all of them.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

4. These can be served the day they are made, but they are actually better the next day. 

Two other uses for the "meat"balls:

Put the already cooked balls in a crockpot and cover with BBQ sauce. Cook until heated through. Serve as a main course with sides of your choice.

Add balls to a jar of spaghetti sauce and serve over pasta.