Spicy beanballs

I make veggie Schnitzel and fritters quite often, but now I thought I'd make vegetable balls. Veggie burgers are everywhere these days (luckily!), but vegetable balls aren't so easy to get in shops or when eating out. So why not make some myself.

I thought of a quite simple recipe for these. Believe me, they are not so much work, as they are oven baked. Black beans seemed like a natural choice as the main ingredient, and then I went a bit frantic and added all kinds of vegetables and spices that I could find in my cupboards, not to forget about cheese. I think these could be made with many different veggies. I really want to make a bean and sweetcorn ones as well. I could also imagine that a potato mash base would be lovely here. This is a dish where you can get really creative!

Ingredients

3 shallots

3 garlic cloves

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 red bell pepper

1 carrot

2 cans black beans

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

½ tsp chilli flakes

½ tsp ground black pepper

150 g emmental

1 egg

1 cup breadcrumbs

Method

Chop the shallots and garlic finely and grate the bell pepper and carrot. The pepper can also be chopped finely.

Cook the shallots in vegetable oil until soft. Then add the garlic and bell pepper. Cook a while until you add the ground cumin, ground coriander and paprika.

Add the black beans and the grated carrot to the pan and let simmer slowly.

Once everything is cooked nicely, season with salt, chilli flakes and ground black pepper. And if needed, add more cumin, coriander or paprika. Let the mix cool.

Grate the emmental and add it to the bean mix with the egg and breadcrumbs. Mix it all into an even dough and slightly mash so that the beans break a little. That will help the balls to stick better together. Add more breadcrumbs if the mix isn't firm enough.

Shape balls from the dough and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Bake at 200C for about 30-40 minutes until the surface is crispy.

Enjoy with a nice dip and maybe a salad. I had an olive and roasted pepper salad and my Redcurrant and chilli jam with these, and it was quite a nice combination. 

Your VegHog