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Vegan meatballs in spiced lentil sauce

You can buy vegan meatballs in most supermarkets these days  -  some are really quite decent, suitable for lovely comforting meals like this one. These vegan meatballs in spiced lentil sauce can be cooked at the same time or you can make the sauce ahead and add the meatballs later. Serve it with pasta, couscous, rice or flatbread.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Resting Time 4 hours
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Cuisine: Fusion
Calories: 1234
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 large red onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 small aubergine or ½ medium
  • 1 small carrot
  • 2 tsp tomato purée
  • 2 tsp harissa paste
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
  • ½ teaspoon of cinnamon powder
  • 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tsp brown sugar or 2 tsp maple syrup optional
  • 100 g baby spinach
  • 1 handful parley or coriander leaves
  • About 24 vegan meatballs
  • 1 tin brown lentils drained
  • Salt & pepper

Method
 

  1. Finely chop the onion and garlic. Roughly chop the pepper and aubergine into small pieces.
  2. Heat a Tbsp of oil in a large frying pan, then gently sauté the onion until soft. Add the garlic, aubergine and red pepper. Put the lid on and gently simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes. Add the spices, tomato purée and harissa paste. Season with salt and pepper, stir for a few seconds, then pour in the chopped tomatoes. Using the tomato tin, add some water, just enough to cover the vegetables. Add the sugar if used.
  3. Put the lid on and gently cook for 20-25 minutes until you get a thick sauce.
  4. Meanwhile, set the oven temperature to 190C degrees, and bake the meatballs for 15 to 20 minutes – check the cooking time on the packaging. Alternatively, you could fry them in a pan.
  5. When the tomato sauce is ready, add the spinach and, using a liquidiser or a handheld blender, whiz it into a smooth, silky sauce.
  6. Put it back on the cooker, add the drained lentils and meatballs. Warm through then serve with chopped coriander scattered on top.