Vegetarian Swedish Meatballs

This is my adaptation of a vegan recipe I found.  There was nothing wrong with the original.  I didn't care if I was having vegan or gluten-free and wanted to put yogurt in the sauce.  I'm not sure if the Worcestershire sauce I bought is vegetarian, but it's the cheap store brand and doesn't list any fish ingredients.  I haven't used the stuff in years and didn't want to get the expensive bottle if it's a one-off.

I will definitely make the meatballs again, to use with any sauce.  Maybe cut back on the Worcestershire and soy sauces, but the texture and general flavor were perfect.  I would bake them on parchment, though.  Adding an egg made them stick to the Silpat.  I couldn't flip them like you were supposed to.  They did cook all the way through.  The crispy bits were only on the bottom.

Warning, you're going to have a lot of dishes to wash.  I actually combined two steps to reduce the number of pots used.  Another option is to make the entire meatball mixture ahead of time, to divide when dishes are washed.  It could easily sit in the fridge for up to 24 hours.  The sauce is best when freshly made.

Meatballs

1 Tb olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1-1/2 C mushrooms, chopped
*4 cloves garlic, minced
*1/2 C lentils
1 C unsalted vegetable broth, or water
3/4 C rolled oats
*2 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp pepper
*2 Tb soy sauce
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce 
1 egg

1.  In a large skillet, cook the onion and mushrooms in the oil until both are softened and the water from the mushrooms is gone.  Add the garlic and cook an additional 2 minutes.  Set aside to cool slightly.

2.  Add the lentils and broth and simmer until the lentils are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, about half an hour.  Remove from the heat.

3.  Pulse oats in a food processor to break them up, then run half a minute to make a coarse oat flour.  Add the onion/mushroom/lentil mixture (and any remaining broth) and all remaining ingredients.  Pulse together, then run into a coarse paste.  You still want enough chunks to mimic ground meat.  Set aside 15-30 minutes to thicken.

4.  Preheat oven to 400º and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Scoop rounded tablespoons of batter onto the sheet, to make about 20 meatballs.  I used a cookie scoop.

5.  Bake for 5 minutes, then turn down the heat to 350º and continue to bake another 18 minutes or so, flipping halfway through if they're firm enough.  If not, no worries.  They will still bake through.  If serving with pasta, get the water boiling and cook according to package directions.  While all that's going on, make the sauce...

Sauce

3 Tb butter or margarine
1/4 Tb flour
1 C vegetable broth
1 C milk
1 Tb soy sauce
1 tsp mustard
1 Tb Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp garlic powder 
1 tsp onion powder 
pepper to taste
1/2 C Greek yogurt or sour cream

1.  In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the flour and briskly stir into a roux.  Cook until all of the flour is lightly browned.

2.  Add the vegetable broth slowly, stirring well after each addition and allowing sauce to thicken.  Add the soy sauce, mustard, Worcestershire, garlic powder, and onion powder.  Slowly add the milk, allowing to thicken as you go.  Taste and add pepper as needed.

3.  Remove the saucepan from the heat.  Beat the yogurt until smooth and add to the sauce.  Stir well to get it to melt into the sauce.  Add baked meatballs to the sauce, then pour over your noodles.  Serve hot.

Difficulty rating  :)