Mmmmmm! This was my enthusiastic comment on the unexpected goodness of these meatless cutlets. Given the ingredients, I imagined I would like them, but I never imagined so much. I do not love meat, and maybe you already know that; I tolerate chicken and turkey, but I really dislike red meat, which I only eat occasionally and with difficulty. So I wanted to experiment with something alternative that would give me satisfaction. So I started with a recipe I read in a Marco Bianchi book and began to modify it according to my taste. Well, the result won me over. And apparently, it also won over the carnivores in the family because my cutlets literally disappeared. So try them yourself and let me know.
Other “alternative” cutlet recipes you might be interested in:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4 servings
- Cooking methods: Oven, Microwave
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for Meatless Cutlets
- 1 1/3 cups canned chickpeas (drained weight)
- 1 1/3 cups canned cannellini beans (drained weight)
- 1 1/3 cups potatoes (net weight after peeling)
- 1/4 cup grated Grana Padano cheese (or Parmesan)
- breadcrumbs
- paprika
- garlic powder
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- black pepper
Tools
- 1 Strainer
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Immersion blender
- 1 Potato masher
- 1 Plate
Preparation of Meatless Cutlets
Drain the chickpeas and cannellini beans from their preserving liquid and rinse them thoroughly under cold running water.
Then transfer them to a bowl and blend them with an immersion blender. You will obtain a rather thick and pasty mixture. Cover it and place it in the refrigerator for at least half an hour.
In the meantime, boil the potatoes. I peeled them, washed them, and cut them into pieces. Then I placed them inside a glass container with a few tablespoons of water and cooked them in the microwave for five minutes at maximum power (900 W). Of course, you can also boil them starting from cold salted water. In this case, I recommend not peeling them to prevent them from absorbing too much water during cooking.
Once cooked, let them cool and then mash them with the appropriate tool, collecting the puree in the bowl with the legume paste. Mix to combine the two mixtures.
Then, add the grated cheese, a good pinch of salt, paprika to taste, a generous grind of black pepper, and 20 ml of olive oil. Mix thoroughly until all the ingredients are perfectly combined.
At this point, with hands slightly oiled, take some of the mixture and shape it by flattening it between your palms to form cutlet-like shapes.
Coat the various meatless cutlets in a breading made by mixing breadcrumbs, paprika, garlic powder, and salt. You can eyeball the quantities of these ingredients to suit your taste and prepare the breading little by little as you run out of the previous batch to avoid unnecessary waste.
Arrange the meatless cutlets inside a baking tray lined with parchment paper and drizzle them with a little olive oil.
Finally, bake them in a preheated static oven at 392°F for about half an hour, switching to grill function in the last few minutes to achieve a nice crust. Keep an eye on them, please.
Remove the meatless cutlets from the oven and serve immediately, nice and hot. Enjoy! Paola.
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