Chickpea Balls with Paprika Sauce

Naturally gluten free chickpea balls are flavourful, made with basic pantry staples and all done under 30 minutes. Enjoy these vegetarian meatballs with roasted potatoes, garden salad, in a pita pocket, or simply with your favorite sauce! You can bake them or fry them, either way, they are delicious. If you don't have leftover rice, then use 80-110 grams of rolled oats instead.

Chickpea Balls	Paprika Sauce
1 Medium red onion, peeled and chopped 3 Garlic cloves 2 tbsp Olive oil 400 g Cooked chickpeas (about 2 cans) 50 g Parmesan cheese, grated 15 g Flat parsley, finely chopped 150 g Leftover cooked rice 1 tbsp Paprika paste Salt and black pepper 1 tbsp Chives, chopped (to garnish)	2 Red peppers 1 Medium red onion 2 Garlic cloves 1 tbsp Olive oil 1 tsp Paprika paste 150 ml Broth 150 ml Crème fraîche

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Grease a baking tray or line with baking paper.
For the chickpea balls, peel and chop the onion and garlic and fry in the olive oil until golden brown and fragrant. Remove from the heat.
Place the chickpeas in a food processor. Pulse a few minutes until finely chopped. Transfer the chopped chickpeas into a large bowl. Add in the remaining ingredients and season with salt and pepper.
Shape the mixture into 12-14 balls and place on the prepared baking tray. Bake in the middle of the hot oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, turning them halfway through, until lightly browned.
For the sauce, scorch the peppers on the gas hob until the skin starts to blister. Place the peppers in a bowl, cover and leave to cool completely. Peel off the skin. (Alternatively, half and roast the peppers, with cut-side down, at 220C/430F for 35 minutes until the skin is shrivelled and lightly blistered.)
Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic and sauté in the olive oil until golden brown. Stir in paprika paste and saute briefly.
Add in the peeled peppers and broth. Bring to the boil. Pour in the crème fraîche and bring to the simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Puree the sauce with an immersion blender.
Serve the chickpea balls with the sauce and garnish with chives.

20 comments:

Tom 16/8/24 13:00: ...great idea, my doctor says I should eat more plant based meals.
Margaret D 16/8/24 13:32: Looks ok.
DEZMOND 16/8/24 13:43: Looks uber lecker even though you and hubby cannot be kissing after it with all that garlic LOL The red sauce looks lovely too.
Kathy G 16/8/24 15:01: I will be trying this one!
eileeninmd 16/8/24 15:35: Sounds tasty, thanks for sharing. Take care, have a great weekend.
Brian's Home Blog 16/8/24 16:07: I'll bet those are so good!
Christine 16/8/24 16:15: Yummy
Judee 16/8/24 16:25: This looks like something I would like to try making. I could sub a vegan cheese and I'm all set. Looks delicious Angie.
LoveT. 16/8/24 18:39: Looks very good, i love it
Królowa Karo 16/8/24 19:21: Looks very great!
Mbul Kecil 16/8/24 23:34: Yummy time! thanks for simple but delicious snack recipe Angie...I'll try this recipe someday ^^
Balvinder 17/8/24 01:41: What a delicious recipe, Angie! And the sauce looks so smooth and beautiful! I just want to dive right in with my spoon :)
Citu 17/8/24 01:57: Gracias por la receta. La haré pronto. Te mando un beso.
Veronica Lee 17/8/24 11:30: I am sure these are fantastic! 😋

Happy Saturday, Angie!
David M. Gascoigne, 17/8/24 12:20: I would like two, please. Okay then three. Soooo good!
Frank 17/8/24 14:50: This sounds scrumptious. I'm a big fan of chickpeas and paprika, so there's no way I wouldn't like this recipe.
Diane 17/8/24 15:25: Interesting recipe, I will give this a try. I hope all is well, sorry I have been so slow this year, buying the adjoining property as kept us more than busy with restoration! Cheers Diane
Bill 17/8/24 19:48: Yummy!
Cooking Julia 18/8/24 23:07: These chickpea balls look great and the sauce is gorgeous!
tigerfish 21/8/24 02:31: What a great way to use chickpeas to make jumbo chickpea balls, instead of just cooking the chickpeas in the sauce :p