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Veggie balls with ‘courgetti’ and tomato and basil sauce


Serves: 4
timePrep time: 40 mins
timeTotal time:
Veggie balls with ‘courgetti’ and tomato and basil sauce
Photograph by Martin Poole

Veggie balls with ‘courgetti’ and tomato and basil sauce


Serves: 4
timePrep time: 40 mins
timeTotal time:

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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
420Kcal
Fat
17gr
Saturates
11gr
Carbs
52gr
Sugars
20gr
Fibre
19gr
Protein
14gr
Salt
0.9gr

Amelia Freer

Amelia Freer

Amelia's aim is to help you discover and celebrate nutritious food - food that is accessible, easy to make and that bursts with goodness & flavour!
See more of Amelia Freer’s recipes
Amelia Freer

Amelia Freer

Amelia's aim is to help you discover and celebrate nutritious food - food that is accessible, easy to make and that bursts with goodness & flavour!
See more of Amelia Freer’s recipes

Ingredients

  • 400g cherry tomatoes on the vine
  • 3 garlic cloves (no need to peel)
  • olive oil, for drizzling
  • sea salt
  • 4 tbsp coconut oil
  • 4 large courgettes
  • 1 x 28g pack basil, leaves only
For the veggie balls:
  • 1 tbsp fennel seeds
  • 1 x 400g tin butter beans, drained
  • 300g sweet potatoes
  • 300g carrots
  • 300g parsnips
  • 75g gram (chickpea) flour, sifted, plus extra for rolling
  • 1 tsp smoked sweet paprika (we used La Chinata)

Step by step

Get ahead
Make the sauce and the veggie balls a day ahead; chill both. The sauce can also be frozen. Bring the veggie balls back to room temperature before frying.
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4.
  2. To make the sauce, put the tomatoes on a baking tray with the garlic cloves; drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and toss to mix. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
  3. For the veggie balls, dry-toast the fennel seeds in a frying pan for 1-2 minutes or until they smell fragrant, then grind them using a pestle and mortar or whiz to a powder in a spice grinder, then tip into a bowl. Add the butter beans and mash them with a fork. Peel and grate the sweet potato, carrot and parsnip and add those along with the flour, sweet paprika and some seasoning; mix thoroughly. Then, on a floured work surface, divide the mixture into 12 and make 12 equal-sized balls.
  4. Heat the coconut oil in a frying pan and brown the balls, transferring them to a baking tray as they are ready.
  5. Roast the veggie balls in the oven for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, use a spiralizer to turn the courgettes into noodles or a flat-bladed peeler to make ribbons; blanch in salted boiling water for 1 minute, then drain.
  6. When the tomatoes are ready, discard the vines and put the tomatoes in a liquidiser along with any caramelised bits from the baking tray. Squeeze the garlic cloves from their skins and add those along with half of the basil; blend to a sauce.
  7. To serve, divide the 'courgetti' between four shallow bowls, place 3 veggie balls on each and pour over some of the sauce. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and scatter with rest of the basil, shredded.

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