Quinoa Pizza Balls – unbeatable pizza flavor with super-healthy quinoa; crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside with a center of melted mozzarella.
I have found this recipe for Quinoa Pizza Balls on The Vegetarian Ginger blog, but it seems that the creator of it was Anna from On Anna’s Plate blog. It is very simple to make and combines unbeatable pizza flavor with super-healthy quinoa. Crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside with a center of melted mozzarella (vegans can just leave out mozzarella cubes).
You can make them smaller and serve as an appetizer, or make larger and serve as a main dish. They are great alternative to meatballs. Since they are baked, not fried, they are also low in fat.
Because the mixture was a bit soggy, I added some breadcrumbs to it. Then it was easier to handle and also prevented cheese from leaking.
Quinoa Pizza Balls - unbeatable pizza flavor with super-healthy quinoa; crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside with a center of melted mozzarella.
- 2 cups cooked red or brown beans, well drained
- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- 2/3 cup tomato paste
- 3 Tbsp breadcrumbs
- 1/2 tsp hot sauce
- 3/4 cup parsley, chopped
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- clove a pinch of garlic powder or 1 minced garlic
- 1 tsp agave nectar
- salt black pepper to taste
- 18 1/2- inch cubes mozzarella (omit if you are vegan)
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Mash beans in a food processor or with an immersion blender. Add remaining ingredients and mix with a spoon.
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Take 2 tablespoons of mixture and place in the palm of your hand. Place a cube of mozzarella (if using) in the center of the mixture and wrap the mixture around the mozzarella to form a ball. Continue this process until there is no more mixture.
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Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in 350 F preheated oven about 30 minutes. Let cool a little bit before removing from a cookie sheet because they can break easily when they are hot.
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Serve as an appetizer with a dipping sauce or as a sandwich filler or even on top of pasta.
Wow! I eat quinoa almost everyday but have never thought to make pizza balls out of it! Totally inspired..can’t wait to make this soon! 😉
These look and sound absolutely delicious! They are on my list of foods to make soon!
What is it quinoa. puedes decirlo en espanol.
La quinua o quínoa (del quechua kínua o kinuwa)
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenopodium_quinoa
Looks like yours turned out really well, thanks for the link back 🙂
You’re welcome 🙂
These look nice. Would like to make them and have to ask a question. The beans, are they dried beans or canned beans? They would make a perfect starter without the cheese as there is 1 vegan in the family. Thank you for posting
The most important thing is that beans are cooked. You can use either canned beans or dry beans that you soak and cook by yourself.