Chickpea balls are back, and wow are they good!
After I made Christin's cookie dough balls and subsequently went crazy making all kinds of flavors, it was only natural I'd eventually go savory.
I think it was after using the fresh mint that I thought of my favorite, fresh basil. The thought snowballed into a basil tomato and onion ball, dipped into Jason's marinara. Oh, mama.
tomato basil beanballs
vegan, gluten free, dairy free
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and peeled
½ cup sun dried tomatoes
½ red onion, diced
15-20 fresh basil leaves, chiffonaded
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons flour (brown rice)
pinch sea salt
Rinse and peel chickpeas, add to food processor. Process alone until crumbly/creamy, add sun dried tomatoes, continue to blend. Add basil and onion, blend. Add olive oil and flour one tablespoon at a time, until dough is formed. Form into one inch balls and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
I served these as an appetizer / snack, with marinara dipping sauce. I have also served them over pasta with marinara, as a salad topper, and sneaked from the fridge very late at night.
I rarely say this, but you need to make these now.
As soon as I can finagle Jason's marinara recipe, I will share it. Perhaps another guest post is in order?
Brittany says
I just found this recipe and had to make them. Was especially excited that I already had all of the ingredients except red onion so I used yellow instead. My one blender was giving me a hard time. After I able to blend the chickpeas and then added the sun-dried tomato my blender decided to be stubborn and would keep sticking and I had to stop it as soon as I started. After 30+ minutes of frustration and back pain I ended up taking it out of the blender and put it on my cutting board, added the olive oil and flour and mushed it up with my hands. The onion was still chunky because it didn't blend but I was able to roll the balls nicely. They came out really good, but a tad dry if you eat them on their own. I am thinking this would be an awesome recipe to make a veggie patty with. I love the flavors of the sun-dried tomato. I'm thinking it may taste good with a little bit of kalamata olives in the mix next time. Awesome recipe. Super happy I have something healthy to bring to work for lunch.
spabettie says
hi Brittany!
so happy you liked them! yes, we always have them with a marinara or some sort of sauce - eating them on top of pasta, or in a sub sandwich, or even an appetizer and dipping them. Kalamata would be great in these, and yes, they do make nice patties, the cooking time is a bit longer but they work!
Cheers! Kristina