Spaghetti & “Beanballs”

Ha…beanballs.

I get alot of crap at work for calling veggie burgers, “burgers” because “burgers indicate meat, you can’t call something without meat a burger-maybe call them grass patties” are the few suggestions I’ve got from co-workers.  Joking around about it makes for an amusing lunch hour generally everyday.  So, when I was heating up my “meatballs made of beans” today at work , they were immeditaely dubbed “beanballs”.  Which, let’s face it-it’s both fun to say and completely juvenile…I love it!

1 lb brown rice spaghetti

3 cups fresh herbed tomato sauce

2 1/2 cups cook canellini beans

1 red bell pepper, sauteed

1 egg

2/3 cup breadcrumbs

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsely

1/2 cup yellow onion, grated or diced

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Dash of chili powder

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• In a food processor, pulse beans, red pepper and olive oil a few times, until chunky, but NOT creamy
• In a large bowl stir together bean mix, egg, breadcrumbs, parsley, onion, oregano, salt, pepper, chili powder and garlic until well blended
• Roll mix into “meatball” sized balls and place on a baking sheet (makes about 12)
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes
• Toss with spaghtetti and sauce