Baked Beanballs with a tomato & veggie pasta sauce

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baked beanballs with a tomato & veggie pasta sauce

So Jenson is a massive fan of baked beans, and will ask for them with most meals. From the usual meals like sausage and mash, fish fingers/fish cakes, scrambled egg and with toast, baked beans are expected. However, I also add them to my cottage pie base, and therefore Jenson will ask me to do the same with his bolognese sauce, which is fine, but he also asks for them to be served with his roast dinner! He is a baked bean lover!

With Burton now back at school, and Jenson soon to start, I thought I would make a lunch that he would enjoy, given his obsession with baked beans. I decided to make some mock meatballs – made instead from baked beans. I mean, he loves pasta and beans so why to make baked beanballs and serve with pasta and a tomato and veggie sauce. What’s not to like about that, you know with him loving baked beans!

So I made my own breadcrumbs, using some cracked black pepper Ryvita, and I fried off some onions and carrots in garlic to add some flavour.

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I then blitzed the veggies and baked beans in my food processor to a rough texture and then stirred in the breadcrumbs, along with some seasoning , some Italian herbs and a handful of grated cheese. I rolled the mixture into balls and placed in the fridge to chill for 1 hour (I have also made myself a large patty to have tomorrow as a bean burger!)

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All that was left to do then, was to fry off the ball in a little oil and then place in them in the oven to finish off .

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and serve them alongside a tasty tomato and vegetable pasta with some extra cheese on top.

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So if you have baked bean lovers in your family, or maybe you like meat free meals, here is how you can recreate these simple and cheap to make Baked Beanballs

Baked Beanballs with a tomato and veggie pasta sauce
Yields 18
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Cook Time
40 min
Cook Time
40 min
Ingredients
  1. 2 tins of baked beans (drain off the tomato sauce)
  2. 1/2 tsp olive oil
  3. 1 small onion, finely diced
  4. 1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
  5. 1 tsp garlic puree
  6. 1 tsp Italian herbs
  7. 1 handful of grated cheese
  8. 10 cracked black pepper Ryvita (or the equivalent in breadcrumbs)
  9. *For the sauce*
  10. a glug of olive oil
  11. 1 onion, finely diced
  12. 2 carrots finely diced
  13. 1 stick of celery finely diced
  14. 1 tin of tomatoes (I used chopped with added herbs)
  15. 1 tsp of tomato puree
  16. 1 tsp sugar
  17. Black pepper
  18. 1 tsp garlic puree
  19. Italian herbs
  20. pasta to serve and grated cheese
Instructions
  1. Saute the onion and carrot in the oil over a medium heat for 5 minutes
  2. Blitz the Ryvita in a food processor to make crumbs and pour into a mixing bowl
  3. Place the veg into the food processor and whizz to make it finer. Add the sauceless baked beans and pulse until smashed - you still want some texture
  4. Pour into the bowl on top of the homemade crumbs
  5. Add the herbs, garlic, black pepper and cheese and mix well
  6. Make into balls - you should make at least 18
  7. Place into the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour
  8. *To make the pasta sauce*
  9. Saute the onions, carrots, celery and garlic in the oil over a low heat until soft (about 8 minutes)
  10. Add the tomatoes, puree and 1/5 of the tomato tin of cold water
  11. Bring to the boil, and then reduce to a low simmer and allow to thicken - this takes about 20 minutes
  12. After the hour, pre heat the oven to 180oC / 160oC (fan)
  13. Remove the beanballs and heat a little oil in a pan (pref one which is oven proof, but if not transfer to an oven proof dish when needed) and brown off each one for a couple of minutes on each side. Then place in the oven and cook for a further 10-15 minutes
  14. While they are cooking cook enough pasta for those who are eating and grate some cheese ready.
  15. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and stir though the tomato sauce and plate up
  16. Top each meal with 3-4 beanballs and add some cheese
Mummy Mishaps http://www.mummymishaps.co.uk/
Now I actually thought these baked beanballs were nice – I mean not as tasty as actual meatballs, but considering they were made from a handful of ingredients I found in my fridge and cupboard I thought I did a good job at creating a tasty and nutritious family meal. Humph! Guess who did not like the beanballs? Yep, baked bean boy himself! I don’t know! Still, the OH and I liked them. Not only are these baked beanballs easy to make, they are cheap to make too making it a great frugal meal using up staple kitchen items. Shame baked bean boy was not a fan, but I am sure your bean fans will like them.

I was sent the cracked black pepper Ryvita from this months Degustabox-Uk subscription , I am sent these boxes for review.

I was also sent a brilliant Microplane Gourmet grater  for the purpose of a review, which I used in this recipe to grate the cheese. It is so easy to use and the cheese comes out in wonderful big cheese curls! I also love the colour!

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Linking to Tinned Tomatoes

and Thinly Spread

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Link up your recipe of the week

6 Comments

  2. These look incredible! I’ve never hedard of anything like this before and will be making them this week as I try and go meat free monday-friday. Hope it’s okay if I link to your recipe in my meal plan monday post. #recipeoftheweek

    Reply

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