Everybody loves Italian food. Everybody. There is nothing compared to some traditional Italian food from a real Italian grandmother, but today we are taking on Vegan meatballs. The most flavorful meatball I have ever tasted. Regular ground beef is very plain in flavor and when you start with an ingredient with no flavor it can be extremely hard to elevate the taste. These meatballs have a similar texture to ground chuck, but have an amazing amount of flavor. The are spicy, sweet, herby, and well balanced. Make them with your next Italian dish and let me know just how well they went over!

Simple Italian Vegan "Meat"balls

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of raw shredded beats
• 2 cups of water
• 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup of uncooked wild rice
• 3 cups of water
• 15 ounces of black beans
• 1/2 cup of diced portobello mushrooms
• 1 cup of finely ground pecans, meal
• 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons of black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt
• 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon of fresh basil chiffonade
• 4 tablespoons of lemon juice

Steps:

1. Simmer the shredded beats, 2 cups of water, and balsamic vinegar in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Continue to simmer until all of the water has evaporated and the beats are tender. Approximately 10 minutes.
2. Pour the 3 cups of water & the 1/2 cup of wild rice into a medium pot. Boil over high heat till the water is gone and the rice is extra tender.
3. Preheat the oven to 375'F. Scoop the rice and the beats into a large bowl. Wash and drain the black beans. Using the same pan from the beats, pour the black beans & diced mushrooms into the pan and heat over medium heat for 10 minutes. 
4. Place the beans & mushrooms into the same bowl. Mash the mixture together until the beans are almost all smooth and it starts to clump together. Mix in the pecans, mustard, tomato paste, pepper, salt, Italian seasoning, basil, & lemon juice.
5. Using gloves, form the mixture into small balls. I use about 2 tablespoons of mixture per meatball. Lay the meatballs onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until crispy on the outside & warm through the middle.
6. Serve with tomato sauce and fresh pasta!