Tofu meatballs made with a mix of tofu, mushrooms, onion, garlic and seasonings, and bathed in a spicy chipotle tomato sauce. Recipe adapted from Connoiseurus Veg.
Press tofu between two plates and place a couple of cans on top to drain excess liquid for 20 minutes.
In the meantime chop the mushrooms very finely and place in a large bowl.
Add the garlic, onion, breadcrumbs, almond milk, soy sauce, vegan Worcestershire, and flaxseed to the bowl.
Use your hands to crumble the pressed tofu into the bowl, season with salt and pepper, and mix well.
Roll the mixture into 15- 18 balls and place on a sheet tray covered with parchment paper. (You can add a little bit of oil on the parchment paper so the meatballs don’t stick, but this is optional if you are oil-free.)
Bake for 30 minutes, turning them halfway through.
Sauce:
While the meatballs are baking, using your blender, process all of the ingredients for the sauce until smooth.
Set a large sauté pan to medium heat and add sauce. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 7-8 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly and changes to a dark red color.
Remove meatballs from oven and add to the pan with the sauce. Cover meatballs in the sauce.
Serve over brown rice, and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.
Notes
Make sure to squeeze all the liquid out of the grated onion. If you would like to make this gluten-free you can substitute the breadcrumbs for oat flour. Annie’s sells a vegan Worcestershire or you can make your own. The key to the texture of this recipe is chopping the mushrooms by hand. If you don't have much time you can do this in the food processor, but be careful not to over process. I used cilantro as a garnish, but you can also add it to the meatball itself. If you want to make the sauce spicy add at least 2 chipotle chiles. When I make these for my kids I only use one