recipe: meatless (mushroom) meatballs

taken from: allrecipes.com (Chef John)

changes: none - made exactly as written.

ingredients list:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb fresh white or baby bella mushrooms, finely chopped or zipped through a food processor
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
- 1 oz finely shredded parmesian-reggiano cheese
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf (italian) parsley
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp salt
- finely ground black pepper
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 pinch dried oregano



to make: 
heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. add mushrooms to the hot oil, sprinkle with salt, and cook and stir until liquid from mushrooms has evaporated. stir butter into mushrooms, reduce heat to medium, and cook to stir mushrooms until golden brown, about 5 minutes.

stir onion into mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. remove skillet from heat and stir garlic into mushroom mixture until fragrant, about 1 minute. transfer to a mixing bowl. 

mix oats into mushroom mixture until thoroughly combined. gently stir 1 oz parm-reg cheese into the mix. add bread crumbs, 1/4 cup parsley, and 1 egg; season with salt, pepper, cayenne, and oregano. mix together with a fork until crumbly. stir in remaining 1 egg. mixture should hold together when pressed.

cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight. 

when ready to cook, preheat oven to 450 F degrees. line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. form mixture into small meatballs using a 2-tbsp scoop. roll balls lightly between your hands until smooth (haha). arrange on prepared baking sheet, and bake until meatballs are lightly golden brown, 12-15 minutes. 

results: 
with no expectations if these would be good or not, we were pleasantly surprised. the texture is similar to a regular meatball, and flavor is actually really good -- nutty mushroomy, garlicy goodness. mixed with pasta sauce and whatever else, you don't even immediately notice that these are the anti-christ of a meatball. good with mushroom alfredo... mmm.