A Modern Way to Eat (3): Mint, Pistachio and Courgette Polpette

Polpette [pol’pette]: Italian for meatball

 

Reading the blurb for this recipe Anna Jones suggests the polpette could be eaten with spaghetti, served in pitta or, as the recipe states, served on top of quinoa. I opted for a vegetarian take on spaghetti and meatballs and know this will join the rotation of our meatless Monday meals. I was also happy to read the polpette freeze well.

 

I didn’t make the pistachio pesto, but would be interested to try this at some stage.

 

Mess factor: ****

Weeknight meal appropriateness: with the use of a food processor, I don’t see why not

Cook again: yes

 

 

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Mint, Pistachio and Courgette Polpette

Serves 4

A Modern Way to Eat

 

For the polpette:

250g cooked puy lentils (about a 400g tin once drained, if you are using tinned lentils)

2 courgettes (zucchinis)

100g breadcrumbs

125g ricotta cheese

1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon

40g pecorino or parmesan cheese, finely grated

1 red chilli, chopped, or a pinch of dried chilli flakes

a few sprigs of fresh parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped

a bunch of fresh mint, leaves picked and roughly chopped

olive oil

 

For the pistachio pesto:

a handful of pistachio nuts (40g)

a small bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked

4 tbsp olive oil

juice of 1/2 a lemon

a couple of tbsp of water

optional: a handful of grated pecorino cheese

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Pulse the lentils in a food processor a few times until you have a textured mush. Pop into a bowl and grate in the courgettes, then pile in all the other polpette ingreidents (keeping half the mint for later) and mix well. Season with salt and pepper – this mixture needs a good seasoning as it seems to soak it all up in the oven. Leave to sit for 20 minutes or so. Meanwhile preheat your oven to 220°C/fan 200°C.

 

Divide the mixture into 4 portions and roll each one into 6 little balls, to get 24 polpette. Place them on a baking tray and drizzle well with olive oil. Bake them in the hot oven for 20 minutes, until they have a golden crust.

 

While they are in the oven, pop all the pesto ingredients as well as the reserved mint into your food processor. Add 2 tablespoons of water and blitz to a chunky paste. If you like a little more oil in your pesto, add some more here. Taste and adjust the levels of lemon, salt and pepper and pecorino, if using, as you need.

 

Take the polpette out of the oven. Serve them on a pile of quinoa, topped with a healthy spoonful of pesto and some leaves for a proper meal.