Falafel balls with courgette ribbons recipe

These falafel balls with courgette ribbons make a delicious meat-free meal - a vegetarian 'meatballs' with a seriously flavoursome twist.

Going vegetarian for just a couple of nights a week can help reduce your food shopping bill and it's good for the environment too. Flavoured with sesame seeds, sundried tomatoes, and feta cheese the wholewheat spaghetti is far from boring. The falafel is homemade with a soft, melt-in-the-mouth texture.

Ingredients

For the falafel:

• 250g dried chickpeas
• 75g cooked beetroot in natural juice, cut into chunks
• 2tsp cumin
• 1tsp garlic salt
• 25g coriander
• 4 spring onions, roughly chopped
• ½ tsp baking powder

For the spaghetti:

• 50g feta
• 50g sesame seeds
• 200g wholewheat spaghetti
• 300-400g courgettes
• 400g tin cherry tomatoes
• 3tbsp sun-dried tomato puree

Method

1. Wash the chickpeas and cover them with water; chill overnight. Freeze the feta.
2. Heat the oven to 200C Fan/Gas 7. Drain and dry the chickpeas. Add to a food processor with the other falafel ingredients and 1⁄4tsp sea salt. Blitz to a rough paste.
3. Tip the sesame seeds onto a plate. Squeeze the falafel mixture in your hands to drain the moisture and make 20 walnut-sized balls. Roll each in the seeds, then arrange on a lined baking tray and cook for 25 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to the pac
5. instructions. Drain, saving 200ml of the cooking water.
6. Use a julienne peeler to peel the courgettes into noodles. Discard the seedy core.
7. Add the tin of cherry tomatoes and tomato puree to the pan and bring to a boil.
8. Add the pasta and courgette noodles to the pan, stirring until the courgette is soft. Add a little of the pasta water to thicken the sauce.
9. Spoon onto plates and top with the falafel balls. Grate over the frozen feta to serve.

Top tips for making falafel balls with courgette ribbons

Feta is lower in fat compared to other cheeses and freezing it gives a light, fluffy texture when grated. It also helps you use less cheese without missing out on flavour. 

Jessica Ransom

“If you have any leftover falafel balls, try stuffing them into toasted pitta bread with a little hummus and some pickled red onions. It makes a delicious work from home lunch but would be great for kids lunchboxes too!” 

For this recipe you need a julienne peeler to create the courgette ribbons. 

OXO Good Grips Julienne Prep Peeler - View at Amazon

Perfect for creating precise, even strips of carrot, courgette, cucumber and more. This little tool will give your meals a professional finish. It’s easy to clean, lightweight, and small enough to store in your cutlery drawer or jar. 

You might also like our classic homemade falafel recipe. You can use any leftovers in this falafel with herby couscous which makes a delicious lunch or you could make these sesame coated falafel.