Pan-fried lentil meatballs with basil an easy and tasty vegetarian dish, you can prepare it effortlessly in a few minutes. To make the lentil meatballs even tastier and more aromatic, I used Semprefresco basil, a high-quality and eco-friendly product with large, fragrant leaves, grown in hydroponic greenhouses, and to eliminate harmful insects, integrated pest management is adapted. I cooked the lentil meatballs in a pan, but you can also bake them in the oven or use an air fryer. In the recipe procedure below, I’ll leave you all the instructions so you can try the other cooking methods as well. These lentil meatballs are vegan, they don’t have eggs, and are also light since there are no potatoes in the mixture. If you want, you can also prepare the meatballs using red lentils and possibly use jarred cooked lentils for an even quicker preparation. Now let’s see how to make pan-fried lentil meatballs, and if you try them, let me know. Barbara
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 8.8 oz cooked lentils
- 1 tbsp triple concentrated tomato paste
- 0.35 oz basil
- 4 tbsps flour
- 1.76 oz carrot, celery, and onion
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
How to Prepare Pan-fried Lentil Meatballs
Let’s start preparing the lentil meatballs, rinse the lentils under running water, then pour them into a pot and cover them with plenty of water, keep in mind that during cooking the lentils swell and therefore need a lot of water. Put the pot on the fire and cook for 15 minutes, add salt and check the cooking, the time varies depending on the type of lentils and their size, they must be cooked and maintain their shape.
When the lentils are cooked, drain them and let them cool. While the lentils are cooking, cut the carrot, celery, and onion into small pieces and boil them for 10 minutes, then drain them. If you use frozen vegetables ready for sautéing, you don’t need to boil them, just thaw them. Finely chop the basil leaves with a knife or you can use a parsley chopper.
Pour the boiled lentils, diced vegetables, chopped basil, triple concentrated tomato paste, a drizzle of oil, a pinch of salt, and the flour into a bowl. Mix all the ingredients well and with your hands take some mixture and form the meatballs by pressing them well and flattening them slightly, then roll the meatballs in flour.
Pour a round of extra virgin olive oil into a large pan, put it on the fire, and when it is hot, place the meatballs, you must let them cook well so that they form a crispy crust, then turn them and cook on that side and season with salt.
Serve the lentil and basil meatballs piping hot.
After preparing the lentil meatballs, place them on the oven tray and spray them with oil, bake them in a preheated static oven at 356°F for 20 minutes, halfway through the cooking turn them, for even cooking.
After preparing the meatballs, place them in the air fryer basket, spray them with oil, and cook for 15 minutes, halfway through the cooking, open the air fryer basket and turn the meatballs, for even cooking.
How to Store Pan-fried Lentil Meatballs
Store the pan-fried lentil meatballs in the refrigerator for 2/3 days or you can also freeze them already cooked for several months
Store the pan-fried lentil meatballs in the refrigerator for 2/3 days or you can also freeze them already cooked for several months
