Spinach & Ricotta Vegetarian Meatballs

Full Disclosure - I had ricotta cheese which were about to turn bad in a day's time and that was the main inspiration for this recipe.  This is another one of my favourite recipes as it involves blending, scooping and baking all in line with the quick and easy theme of my blog.  This recipe was adapted from Not so Nigella but I tweaked it to make it my own. 

Ingredients (12 meatballs)
250 gm ricotta cheese
75 gm baby spinach, washed
1 red onion, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
75 gm cheddar cheese
​30 gm parmesan cheese
100gm plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
​4 cups of ready made marinara sauce
chilli flakes (per your heat preference)
​extra parmesan/cheddar cheese for topping
dried parsley for garnish

Method
​1)  Get all the ingredients ready. You hv to ensure that the ricotta cheese is still relatively firm, otherwise you'll hv a watery batter which will then make you add more flour to firm up the batter whch will in turn make your end meatballs hard (that is a very long sentence!). Preheat the oven to 180deg C or 350 deg F.

2) Fry the chopped onion for a while so that you don't get the raw taste of onion when you bite into your meatballs.

3) Blend all the ingredients except the flour, baking powder, marinara sauce and the garnishes.

4) Pour the batter into a mixing bowl and add in the flour and baking powder. 

5) Mix in gently but don't overmix. You should get this consistency.

6) Pour the marinara sauce onto a flat rectangular baking dish. It should be a bit high so that the meatballs soak in the sauce while baking. 

7) Using a large ice cream scoop, scoop out the spinach ricotta mix and place them into this sauce.

8) Top with more cheddar/parmesan cheese and add a bit of chilli flakes for a little bit of heat in your meatballs. 

9) Bake for 45 mins or a little longer till the top is golden brown. 

10) Garnish with parsley flakes and enjoy these delicious vegetarian meatballs on its own, with a toast or on your pasta.