On top of spaghetti: a mother's recipe is full of memories, minus the meat - includes recipes - Recipe Redux

Vegetarian Times, May, 1997 by Nancy Berkoff

Comfort foods are always a treat and what could be more comforting than to know there is a stash of one of your favorite foods snuggled in suspended animation in your freezer. One never knows when work or life may call for an infusion of the "warm fuzzies."

Matching mom's meat-heavy meatballs in a vegetarian format was a challenge. This was not a simple replacement of meat with a packaged soy mix but was an attempt to approximate flavor, texture and storage ability using fresh vegetables and grains. Of course, if I didn't have time to make my own, I could always use the ready-made "ground beef" substitutes or mixes sold in natural food stores, but I wanted to recapture the flavor of the non-meat meals I had enjoyed as a child. (I was raised with a kosher grandmother, who did the majority of cooking, and our meals were distinctly dairy or meat.)

At home, my grandmother rarely attempted homemade meat replacers -- let alone vegetarian "meatballs." Stretching the brain cells a bit further, though, I remembered the great dairy restaurants we went to on the lower East Side of New York City; these restaurants, although they did not bill themselves as such, were lactoovo, with an eastern European flavor. I remembered being amazed that the stuffed cabbage, "veal steak" and "burgers" that I ate were not meat at all but a combination of vegetables and textured vegetable protein. If they hadn't told me, I would never have known.

This is where the detective work began. None of my relatives are around to reminisce with so I called friends on the East Coast and had them do some delicious research in dairy restaurants; they cajoled and wheedled information from New York waiters (no easy task) and recalcitrant cooks (an even meaner feat).

Back on the sunny West Coast, I was doing my own research and development a la mom. The replacement ingredients for the bulk and the binder (the meat and the egg) proved to be the most challenging. I made some tasty fillings using ground soybeans, cooked millet and cooked bulgur. They made great loaves but did not stay together well enough to meet the definition of "balls." After some reworking, there was success.

The reason I was not getting the required binding was because I was attempting to avoid eggs, cheese and Egg Replacer (the first two in an attempt develop a vegan recipe and the third out of sheer stubbornness: I was bound an determined that vegetables and grain could "glue" themselves together). Note what won -- both recipes require the use of egg or Egg Replacer. If you choose to use Egg Replacer, follow package directions (1 1/2 teaspoons Egg Replacer to 2 tablespoons water) for the equivalent amount of egg.

Both recipes freeze well and reheat best if cooked in sauce (do not let the balls thaw before reheating in sauce and do not microwave or you'll end up with inedible tennis balls). For best results, reheat the frozen meatless balls in marinara or mushroom sauce. As a timesaver, make a double batch, one for eating now and one for freezing.

When you're ready to enjoy your meatless creation, don't limit yourself to the delicious-but-obvious "meatballs" and spaghetti. Try either version in a hero sandwich for a hearty, satisfying lunch.

Another tip: Don't forget to sing "On Top of Spaghetti" before dishing out. Now that you've found your "poor `meatball,'" there's no reason to keep quiet about it.

New York Mama's

"Meatballs"

It took some sleuthing, but our East Coast spies got the recipe for the meatless balls served at kosher dairy restaurants. Matzo meal, sold in the kosher foods section of your local supermarket, adds a density that's reminiscent of ground beef.

1/4 cup chopped carrot 2 cups chopped white mushrooms 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper 1/8 cup chopped yellow onion 1/2 cup chopped celery 1 clove garlic 2 Tbs. vegetable oil 1/2 Tbs. dried parsley 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper 1 large egg 3 large egg whites 1 cup matzo meal (or more if needed, [see glossary, p. 110]) Salt to taste (if using salted matzo meal you may not need salt) 6 cups prepared marinara sauce

In food processor, finely chop carrot. Add remaining vegetables and garlic and chop to a fine paste, scraping down sides of work bowl several times.

In large saute pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add processed vegetables, parsley and black pepper; saute until soft, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat, cool to room temperature.

In large bowl, beat egg and egg whites together until blended, about 30 seconds. Add vegetable mixture to eggs; mix until combined. Stirring constantly, add matzo meal slowly, adding only enough to form a mixture that can be shaped into balls. Using wet hands, shape mixture into balls, using about 1 1/2 tablespoons mixture per ball. Balls can be frozen at this point or simmered in sauce for 30 minutes. Alternatively, balls can be baked in the oven on a baking sheet at 325 degrees for 40 minutes and served with sauce. Makes 20 to 22 meatless balls or about 7 servings of 3 balls each and 1/2 cup sauce. PER SERVING: 238 CAL.: 8G PROT.; 10G TOTAL FAT (2G SAT. FAT); 34G CARB.; 35MG CHOL.; 786MG SOD.; 1G FIBER. OVO-LACTO