This comforting dish has it all—a savory umami-rich gravy, tender veggie wheatballs, and satisfying whole wheat pasta to soak up all the delicious flavors. Mushrooms are the star of this recipe and make appearances in both the gravy and wheatballs, so make sure to get the freshest you can find. And when it comes to the pasta, any shape will work, but the gravy clings the best to curly varieties such as fusilli. Sprinkle everything with fresh herbs, and enjoy!
Tip: The hearty wheatballs freeze well; make them up to 2 weeks in advance and freeze in airtight containers.
Love mushrooms? Be sure to check out this delectable mushroom empanadas recipe.
Ingredients
- 1¼ lb. fresh mushrooms
- 3 cups chopped onion
- 1 15-oz. can white beans (any variety), rinsed and drained (1½ cups)
- 1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal
- 12 cloves garlic, minced
- 4½ teaspoons white wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cups dry whole wheat pasta, such as farfalle or fusilli
- 2 cups fresh or frozen spinach
- 2 cups unsweetened, unflavored plant-based milk
- 2 tablespoons oat flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roughly chop 8 oz. of the mushrooms; set remaining 12 oz. mushrooms aside for gravy. In a food processor combine the chopped mushrooms and 1 cup of the onion. Pulse to a chunky texture. Add white beans, bread crumbs, quinoa, ½ cup fresh parsley, 1 tablespoon fresh sage, 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, the flaxseed, 6 cloves garlic, 1½ teaspoons white wine vinegar, baking soda, the sea salt, and black pepper. Pulse to a coarse texture. Roll about 2 tablespoons of the mushroom mixture into a ball and place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
- Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wheatballs are browned and crispy.
- For Mushroom Gravy, slice the remaining mushrooms. Transfer to a saucepan. Add the remaining 2 cups chopped onions, 6 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon fresh sage, and 1 tablespoon fresh thyme. Cook over medium-low about 10 minutes or until all liquid has been cooked off and mushrooms start to brown. Remove ½ cup of the mushrooms from pan; set aside. To the saucepan add the plant-based milk, oat flour, and the remaining 3 teaspoons white wine vinegar. Transfer to a blender; cover and blend until smooth. Return sauce to saucepan; cook about 4 minutes more or until thickened. Stir in the reserved mushrooms.
- Cook pasta according to package directions, adding spinach the last minute of cooking; drain. Transfer pasta mixture to a large serving dish. Arrange wheatballs on pasta. Spoon Mushroom Gravy over top. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
tags:
Comments (14)
(4 from 7 votes)It took a lot of time and ingredients to make this. It was tasteless and hard to eat. I will throw the remaining half away. A waste of excellent ingredients. Skip this one.
I wish there was a rating of zero. This was a TON of work with a TON of mushrooms and a tastless end result. The sauce was the biggest problem. The wheat balls could possibly be used with a different sauce. I tried the recipe because of the many healthy ingredients. Usually your recipes are excellent. This one… not so much.
Easily my least favorite recipe of all the FOK recipes. It takes a very long time (which they do tell you), but it was very bland and the wheat balls didn't hold together well--they ended up being more like patties, though they tasted fine. The flavor of the gravy ended up being OK, but I had to do a lot of tweaking to get there. Definitely make sure you use almond milk--soy milk (even unsweetened) just doesn't get you to a savory flavor. Also, I would make a roux with the milk and flour and then add to the mushroom and onion mixture. Sadly, won't be making this again. Even though it ended up being fine, in the end, it was too time-intensive and needed a lot of modifications of the original recipe.
Not bad! It was a long time cooking all those ingredients. I think if I had turned them several quarter turns they would have been crunchy all over rather than on side. I also think the gravy was nice but unnecessary. They are good sliced like meat balls so they’d be good in spaghetti or a grinder.
So good!! I was feeling mashed potatoes with the wheatballs, so I made another ForksOverKnives recipe, Heather’s garlic mashed potatoes and creamy golden gravy, and the end result was delicious!!! Very good meal! I did pop my wheatballs in the air fryer, and they did take less time. They came out nice and crispy! Will make again.
It was dark and a little blank. Not our favorite in appearance or taste.
Agree! The sauce turned out gloopy. Overall, it was surprisingly tasteless and quite work-intensive, so I'll not be making it again.
I added a bunch of nutritional yeast and some salt to the leftover sauce, and it improved things about 100%
My first vegan meal it taste fantastic
I love the mushroom gravy, but my wheatballs were not successful. They fell apart. Any advice on how to ensure the balls are moist enough to not crumble?
Can you substitute panko for the bread crumbs?
Wow! Good info, Barbara about fresh vs dry herbs. Never knew this. Thank you!
If we want to replace fresh ingredients with shelf-stable ingredients, what measurements would you recommend?
If you are referring to the herbs use this rule. If using dry instead of fresh, always use 1/3 the amount. Dry herbs are much stronger than fresh. Same goes if a recipe calls for dry herbs. You can use 3 times a much fresh.