Spaghetti and T-Balls with Marinara Sauce

A vegan take on a classic dish: Spaghetti and T-Balls (page 194) with Marinara Sauce (page 194).

Let's start with the marinara sauce. Super easy to throw together with pantry staples. This recipe is a great base for your tomato sauces and easily customised to your tastes. The better the quality of your crushed tomatoes, the better your sauce will be. I added in lots of chopped garlic (see the chunks up there), diced onions, some red pepper flakes and a splash of balsamic vinegar. I like adding balsamic because it adds a bit of depth to tomato sauces.

The T-Balls were also really easy to throw together. Similar to the Tempeh Tantrum Burgers, everything goes into a food processor and then cooked. The only thing I changed was that I used regular flour instead of vital wheat gluten and they still held together really well. I opted for the baking method but before I threw them in the oven I gave everything a spritz of oil. They baked up perfectly and held together.

The seasonings were just right combined with the sauce in this dish. Tasty but not overpowering. If you are going to use these without a sauce, ramp up the seasonings. These T-Balls would totally be great in sandwiches too. Of course they still taste like tempeh, so if you don't like tempeh, skip these.

This dish was a nice break from the usual "meat" balls that I've made for spaghetti (usually TVP-based) and it was nice to have pasta with a homemade sauce again instead of jarred (I confess I use jarred a lot). If you're looking for a hearty and comforting meal, make this.

— Ms. Veganorama