Shannon Martinez’s new cookbook doesn’t look like other cookbooks. “I wanted to really accentuate that kind of ’70s porno filter,” she told Broadsheet upon the book’s release. “I was just so sick of flat lay cookbooks. Cookbooks are keeping the book industry alive, but they’re starting to look homogenous.”
Vegan Italian Food is a riot in comparison to those stark flat lays: it’s messy and colourful, a little chaotic and a lot full of life – a bit like Italy itself, really. While other cookbooks might evoke stiff fine-dining experiences, Vegan Italian Food feels like a boisterous house party where there’s something wild going on in every corner.
It’s a fitting aesthetic for a collection of recipes that are equally big and bold (and, of course, vegan); there’s Martinez’s famous tiramisu, cacio e pepe, lasagne and a cornucopia of other desserts, starters, Italian basics and more. Then there are these entirely plant-based meatballs and punchy tomato sauce.
“Meatballs can be used in so many ways,” Martinez writes. “Throw them in spaghetti for dinner, or put them in a roll for lunch the next day. The world is your meatball.”
This recipe includes a homemade passata – you’ll have loads left to swirl through pasta, use as a sauce base or top pizza for months to come.
Shannon Martinez’s vegan meatballs
Serves 4
Preparation time: 2 hours, plus 10 minutes softening
Cooking time: 1 hour 35 minutes
Ingredients
Passata
(makes 5L, you will need 420g for this recipe)
5kg very ripe tomatoes
250ml water
2 tbsp salt flakes
½ bunch of basil
Balls
150g stale bread, crusts removed and torn
125ml soy milk
400g fresh vegan mince
1 brown onion, grated and squeezed of extra moisture
2 garlic cloves, finely grated
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp (or more) chilli flakes, to taste
Sauce
60ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 tbsp extra
1 brown onion, finely diced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
1 small carrot, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp tomato paste
250ml white wine
250ml vegan beef or vegetable stock
420g passata (see above)
1 bay leaf
2 thyme sprigs
1 red chilli split lengthways (or chilli flakes), to taste
¼ bunch of parsley, roughly chopped
Method
To make the passata, sterilise five 1L jars.
Wash the tomatoes well. Using a sharp pointed knife, remove the cores from the tomatoes, then cut in half. Squeeze the tomatoes over a bowl to remove the seeds and excess liquid.
Add the water to a very large stockpot, followed by the tomatoes. If you don’t have a large enough pot, split the water and tomatoes over two smaller ones. Cover the pot with a lid and cook the tomatoes over a very low heat, stirring every 5–10 minutes until they become very pulpy. This will take anywhere between 20–30 minutes.
Pour the tomato pulp into a large colander in the sink and allow as much excess water to drain out as possible.
Set a large bowl under a moulie, passata machine or passata attachment for a stand mixer and ladle in the cooked tomatoes in batches. Once you have passed all the tomatoes through the mill, collect the skins and any pulp that has not gone into the bowl, and pass it again to make sure you’ve gotten every last drop of tomato goodness out. Stir in the salt.
Line up your sterilised bottles or jars and place a small sprig of basil in each one. Using a funnel, fill each bottle with the passata, leaving about 2cm of space at the top. Seal tightly with the lid.
Clean out the stockpot and carefully place the bottles in. Cover with water and bring to the boil. Boil for 20 minutes, then turn off the heat and allow the water to cool to room temperature before removing the bottles. If sealed correctly, you can store the bottles in the pantry pretty much indefinitely. Once opened, use within 4 days.
If you don’t want to jar your passata, you can freeze it in containers or resealable bags.
To make the meatballs, put the bread in a large bowl and pour the soy milk on top. Squish together with your hands, then leave to soften for about 10 minutes.
Once the bread is fully softened, add the remaining meatball ingredients and mix very well to combine. Roll into whatever size meatballs you like, placing them on a plate or tray as you go.
To make the sauce, heat the oil in a shallow dutch oven over a medium heat and, once hot, drop in the onion, celery and carrot along with a pinch of salt and cook until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook for another minute, then stir in the tomato paste and cook for another minute.
Deglaze with the wine and simmer until reduced by half, then pour in the stock and passata. Add the bay leaf, thyme and chilli. Season well, then stir to combine. Simmer over a low heat while you cook off the meatballs.
Heat the extra 1 tbsp oil in a large frying pan set over a medium–high heat and brown the meatballs on all sides. (Work in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan.) You’re not looking to fully cook the meatballs at this point, just seal them off.
Once all the meatballs are browned, drop them into the sauce. Stir gently to coat, then cover the pan with a lid. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
To finish, stir through the parsley and check the seasoning. Serve on polenta, through spaghetti or in a sandwich.
This is an edited extract from Vegan Italian Food: Over 100 Recipes for a Plant-based Feast by Shannon Martinez, published by Hardie Grant Books. Available in stores nationally. Photography by Kristoffer Paulsen.
For more Shannon Martinez recipes, check out our Shannon Martinez recipe collection.
