Walnuts, Baby Bella mushrooms, savory spices, and fresh parsley are mixed with fresh bread crumbs to create these amazing meatballs. If that wasn't good enough, they're stuffed into a toasted roll with balsamic-glazed vegetables. The subs come together in about 30 minutes, so they're perfect for a weeknight, weekend, or whenever dinner. You could easily bake up a batch over the weekend and reheat throughout the week. They would be perfect with pasta or on a pizza.

Walnut Portobello Meatball Subs [Vegan]

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Serves

2

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Ingredients

For the Meatballs:

  • 1 cup walnuts or raw hulled pumpkin seeds, to make it nut-free
  • 4 ounces Baby Bella mushrooms , cut in half
  • 1 teaspoon all-purpose savory seasoning
  • 4 sprigs fresh parsley
  • 4 Medjool dates, pitted
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (about 1 slice of bread)
  • 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon flax meal plus 3 tablespoons warm water)

For the Vegetable Filling:

  • 1/2 orange bell pepper, sliced into strips
  • 1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half
  • 1/2 large shallot, sliced
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • A pinch of salt
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 2 sub rolls, toasted
  • Parsley, for garnish
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Preparation

To Make the Meatballs:

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
  2. Finely grind the slice of bread into crumbs in a food processor — transfer crumbs to a small bowl and set aside.
  3. In the food processor, finely grind 1 cup walnuts, half of the mushrooms, seasoning, and parsley until well mixed. The mixture should be a bit moist from the walnuts. Transfer mixture to a medium mixing bowl.
  4. Add dates and remaining mushrooms to the processor until well ground. With a rubber spatula, transfer date/mushroom mixture to the bowl with the walnut mixture. Add bread crumbs, olive oil, salt, and flax egg. Mix well.
  5. Using a heaping tablespoon, form a ball with the mixture, then place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat 12 times until all the mixture has been formed into balls.
  6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until brown.
  7. While the meatballs are baking, prep the vegetables.

To Make the Vegetables:

  1. In a medium saute pan over medium/high heat, add oil. Once oil is heated, add vegetables and sauté. Caramelized bits are good. Towards the last 2-3 minutes of cooking, add the balsamic to deglaze the pan.
  2. Continue to cook until balsamic is reduced by half.  You are looking to create a glaze of balsamic on the vegetables. Remove from heat and set aside.

To Make the Subs:

  1. When you have about 2-3 minutes of cooking time left on the "meatballs" place 2 sub rolls cut side down on the upper rack of the oven.
  2. Once the meatballs are done cooking, remove from the oven along with the sub rolls. allow the meatballs"to cool for about 3 minutes.
  3. Assemble the subs by placing half the vegetable mixture into the roll, top with meatballs, and garnish with parsley
  4. Leftover meatballs can be stored in an airtight container for up to week and reheated as needed or frozen on a cookie sheet and stored in a freezer bag for later use.
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