Thursday 11 November 2010

Spaghetti Tacos with "Meat"balls

Any iCarly fans out there will recognise this one. Here's my take on Spencer Shay's famous spaghetti tacos. Of course, if you object to the idea of noodles in a crunchy corn shell, you can make plain spaghetti and meatballs, but where's the fun in that?
The meatball recipe is essentially this one with the seasoning altered to make them Italian flavoured rather than Swedish.
Here are my rather messily presented tacos:
Serves 4.

Ingredients:
8 taco shells
160g spaghetti

"Meat"ball ingredients:
1 cup red lentils
2 cups water
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
3/8 cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp wholemeal flour
2 tbsp vital wheat gluten
1 tbsp oregano or dried mixed herbs
Pinch of salt
Sprinkle of black pepper
Olive oil

Sauce ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup tomato puree
Fresh basil leaves, as much as you like

Directions:

To make the "meat"balls:
In a large pot simmer the cup of lentils in the 2 cups of water for about 20 minutes.
Halfway through the cooking process add the 1/2 onion and clove of garlic.
Once the lentils are completely soft and cooked through remove them from heat and allow them to come to room temperature
Once they have cooled add the flour, nutritional yeast, flaxseed, vital wheat gluten, herbs, salt and pepper. Combine thoroughly with a wooden spoon.
Roll them into small balls and store them in the fridge for at least an hour or two so they firm up and will hold together during cooking.
Once you are ready to cook them, drizzle a large pan with olive oil and fry the balls on all sides until they are golden brown and crispy.

To make the sauce:
Heat the oil in the sauce pan, add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds. Add the chopped tomatoes and tomato puree. Blend until smooth. Tear or chop the basil leaves and add to the sauce. Heat through before serving.

Heat the taco shells and cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions. Stir the sauce and meatballs into the spaghetti. Stuff the taco shells and enjoy.

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