Vegan black bean and quinoa balls with buckwheat spaghetti

Welcome to one my favourite dishes. This one really is such a tasty one! It's classic Italian comfort food at it's best but made a bit lighter with the addition of it being vegan. These balls are great in pasta's as you can see here or also as comforting in a falafel or just as a side dish with a nice dip.

Ingredients

• 4 zucchinis or 350g of buckwheat pasta

For the black bean and quinoa balls

• 1/2 cup of quinoa

• 1 can of black beans

• 1/4 cup of sesame seeds

• 1/4 cup of oat flour or bread crumbs

• 2 tbsp tomato paste

• 1/2 tbsp Sriracha

• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1,5 tbsp chopped fresh herbs (oregano, sage, rosemary, basil)

• salt, pepper

For the sun-dried tomato sauce

• 1/2 cup of halved cherry tomatoes

• 1/2 cup of sun-dried tomatoes

• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

• 1 clove of garlic

• 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts

• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast

• handful of fresh basil

• 1 tsp oregano

• salt, pepper

To serve

• fresh basil

• 1/2 cup of halved cherry tomatoes

Instructions

Black bean and quinoa balls

1. Add quinoa and one cup of water to a pot and cook for about 15 minutes. Drain any excess water and let cool a bit.

2. Meanwhile add black beans to a bowl and mash coarsely with a potato masher or a fork. Add quinoa, sesame seeds, oat flour or bread crumbs, tomato paste, Sriracha, nutritional yeast and spices and mix well together. Use your hands to make it into a mouldable dough.

3. Scoop out about 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls (about 22-25 total). Place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.

4. Bake at 200°C/400ºF for 35-40 minutes, or until crispy.

Sun-dried tomato paste

1. Place sauce ingredients in a food processor and blend until creamy.

Pasta

1. Spiralize zucchinis and place in a large bowl, or prepare your pasta according to package instructions.

Assembly

1. Add sun-dried tomato sauce and cherry tomatoes to zucchini/pasta and mix well. To serve, top zucchini/pasta with 4-5 balls per serving and sprinkle with fresh basil. Enjoy!