Perhaps it’s a bit off-putting to call these “veggie meatballs” and tie them by name to their carno-cousins. Sure, they take after their namesake in shape and serving suggestion, but they’re not overtly trying to be “meaty”. They’re more bread-y than anything else.

• 1/4 of a baguette or whatever stale, crusty bread you have lying around, diced
• About 25g mushrooms, diced (more if you’re feeling shroomy)
• 2 big cloves of garlic, minced
• A large handful of fresh parsley
• 10g or so of cheese. You know: cheese. Whatever you have on hand. Something hard and Italian or British and mature makes a lot of sense.
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• A few glugs of extra virgin olive oil
• A few tablespoons of water
• 1 egg, beaten
• Salt, pepper to taste

• Dice up your bread. If it’s not stale/crusty enough, pop it in the oven for a few. In a food processor, turn those chunks of bread into crumbs. They don’t have to be microscopic. Even pea-sized crumbs work just fine. Once you have your crumbs the way you like, add in the parsley and process for a few more seconds. Place the mixture in a big bowl and set aside.
• In a frying pan over medium-high heat, get your garlic going in a tablespoon of olive oil. Once the garlic is golden, add the diced mushrooms. Get those fungi frying until almost all of the water is cooked out. Add salt and pepper to taste and then scrape the results into the bowl of breadcrumbs.
• Add the rest of ingredients, except for the egg and water, to the bowl. Mix, taste, and adjust for seasoning.
• Add the beaten egg and enough water so the mix comes together easily when shaped into balls. It doesn’t really matter how large and in charge you make these little wonders – I just wouldn’t make them more than about 5-7cm (2.5 inches or so) across. Place the finished ballz on a lightly oiled baking sheet. You should end up with 6-12, depending on how big your balls are. (Filthy!)
• Bake at 175C for 25-30 minutes, turning once halfway through cooking. They should be nice and golden brown but still a little soft in the middle.

We had these over some pasta and tomato sauce. Delicious starch-on-starch action.

These would be ultra-tasty on a veggie meatball sandwich. As long as you can forget that fact that you’re essentially eating bread on bread.

Rolled (and rocked) to Sonic Youth – EVOL. But really, any Sonic Youth will do.