Chickpea and Parsley Balls in Ortolana Vegetable Sauce

Forty balls from a single bowl, no meat and no trouble. Blended chickpeas make a soft base that pecorino turns savoury and parsley keeps fresh, and they hold together on their own in the pan.

The rest is down to our Organic Ortolana Sauce, where tomatoes meet the vegetables of the garden: the balls finish cooking in the sauce and take on all of its flavour. They can be made ahead and are even better the next day, which comes in handy when there are forty of them.

CATEGORY
Main course
DOSES
About 40 balls
PREPARATION TIME
25 minutes
COOKING TIME
20 minutes
DIFFICULTY
Easy

Blend the chickpeas with 60 ml of their cooking water until you have a smooth puree. Transfer it to a bowl and add the eggs, the grated pecorino and almost all of the chopped parsley, then season with salt and pepper.
Shape the balls with damp hands, about 30 g of mixture each, and brown them in a pan with a little oil for 5 minutes, turning them gently so they colour evenly.
Add the organic ortolana sauce, bring to the boil, cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes, turning the balls halfway through.
Serve warm, scattered with the remaining chopped parsley.