Vegan Meatball Marsala
Marsala wine and plant-based meatballs make a a rich vegan dish. This meatball marsala tastes great over pasta, mashed potatoes, or rice.
Ingredients
- 3 small shallots
- 3 cloves garlic
- 24 oz. mushrooms
- 1 bottle dry marsala wine 750ml
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tbsp fresh basil
- ⅛ tsp white pepper
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 package plant-based meatballs
Instructions
- Mince the shallot and add to a Dutch oven or deep skillet with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Sauté over medium heat until the shallot becomes translucent. Mince the garlic and add to the pan. Cook until fragrant.
- Remove the stems from the mushrooms and cut the caps into thin slices. Add to the pan and stir occasionally to cook all the mushrooms. Cook until they have reduced in size an released their liquid.
- Add the remaining ¼ cup of olive oil. If you are using dried spices, add them to the oil now so they will bloom and give more flavor. Add the marsala wine and stir to combine.
- Season with black and white pepper and salt. If using fresh basil, add the chopped leaves now.
- Bring to a simmer and simmer for about 15 minutes so the sauce will reduce and the alcohol will cook off.
- Add the flour to thicken the sauce. To avoid clumps you can sift the flour into the sauce with a sifter or fine mesh strainer. Stir to combine and continue to simmer as the sauce thickens. If the sauce is still too thin you can thicken it with more flour. If it becomes too thick, you can thin the sauce with vegetable broth.
Notes
Make sure to buy a dry Marsala wine! They sell sweet wines to use in desserts, and even some that say medium sweetness are still too sweet for this recipe in my opinion. You can serve this with veggies, pasta, over rice, or (my favorite) mashed potatoes! Simmering the sauce does cook off the alcohol, but this dish may not be suitable for people who do not consume any alcohol. Unfortunately, there isn’t really a substitute for the marsala.