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Meatless · Recipe No. 263

Vegetarian Watercress Meatballs

Vegetarian watercress meatballs poached in water and topped with a creamy vermouth and cheese sauce. Delicious served with buckwheat groats or just bread.

2 min read

When I think of meatballs, I usually mean balls made of ground meat. But when I came across this recipe, I was happy to find vegetarian meatballs too. They may not be a quick dish, but they're not difficult to make.

You can serve them with just some bread. I made them for dinner and served them with buckwheat groats. Unfortunately, I ran a bit short of watercress and had to skip the leaves with lemon zest. Instead, I placed arugula leaves on top of the meatballs.

Vegetarian Watercress Meatballs

Directions:

Clean, wash and dry the watercress. Set 1/3 of it aside. Bring water to a boil in a pot and blanch the larger portion of the watercress (dip it briefly in boiling water), then quickly rinse it with cold water. Squeeze it out well (you'll have about 80 g left) and chop it finely.

Cut the bread into 1 cm cubes. Warm the milk, pour it over the cubed bread and set aside for 15 minutes. Dice the onion and sauté it in butter until translucent. Squeeze out the bread, then add the watercress, onion, eggs, flour and breadcrumbs and mix well, then season with salt and pepper.

For the sauce, finely chop the shallots and sauté them in butter. Pour in the vermouth and reduce to 1/3 of the volume. Add the vegetable broth and reduce again to 1/2 of the volume. Add the crème double, bring to a boil and set aside.

Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot. Form 8 meatballs from the dough (preferably with damp hands, because it can get very sticky), put them into the boiling water, reduce the heat and cook the meatballs for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, finish the sauce. Finely grate the cheese, heat the sauce and add the cheese to it. Cook for a moment, stirring, until the cheese melts, then season to taste and blend with an immersion blender.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet, add the remaining watercress and cook over high heat until it starts to wilt. Season with salt and pepper and add the lemon zest.

Pour the sauce over the cooked meatballs and serve with the watercress leaves.

Enjoy!

Additional information:

Crème double can be replaced with thick heavy cream.

1 serving contains: 776 kcal, 35 g fat, 94 g carbohydrates