Vegetarian Mushroom ‘Meatballs’

Heat oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add onion, parsley and season with freshly cracked black pepper and salt. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until translucent. Add the garlic, oregano, thyme and paprika and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.

Pulse the mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped. Add to onion mixture with tomato paste and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until all the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms start to caramelise.Transfer to a bowl and chill in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan-forced.

Finely chop 2 tablespoons of the parsley leaves. Add to the chilled mushroom mixture with quinoa, parmesan and egg.Stir to combine. Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls and arrange on a baking paper-lined oven tray. Brush with oil and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Heat sauce in a deep frying pan over medium high heat. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, then add meatballs to gently coat. Spoon sauce and 4 to 5 meatballs over cooked pasta and sprinkle with extra grated parmesan and fresh parsley leaves. Serve.

Note: You can use white cup mushrooms instead of Swiss Brown.
You can easily make this into a vegan recipe by switching the egg for flax and using nutritional yeast flakes instead of cheese.