

Baked quinoa arancini with creamy basil sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup white quinoa
- ½ cup quinoa flakes
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 30g baby spinach leaves
- ¼ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
- ¹⁄³ cup finely grated parmesan
- 1 medium courgettezucchiniX, coarsely grated, finely chopped
- 3 spring onions, thinly sliced
- 4 cups fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
- 75g mozzarella, cut into forty 1cm cubes
- ½ cup plain flourall purpose flourX
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons skim milk
- Creamy basil sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon plain flourall purpose flourX
- ¾ cup reduced-salt vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons light thickened cream
- 2 tablespoons finely
- chopped fresh basil
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Instructions
1 Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add quinoa, quinoa flakes and garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until lightly toasted. Add 2 cups water and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, for 10–12 minutes or until water is absorbed and quinoa almost tender. Remove pan from heat and allow to stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Remove lid and stand for a further 5 minutes. Transfer quinoa to a large mixing bowl.
2 Meanwhile, place spinach, chilli flakes, parmesan and 1 tablespoon water in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
3 Transfer spinach mixture to quinoa mixture. Add courgette, spring onions and 1 cup breadcrumbs, mixing well to combine. Season with freshly ground black pepper. Using damp hands, shape level tablespoons of mixture into balls. Insert a mozzarella cube inside each ball, making sure to completely seal cube with quinoa mixture. Transfer balls to prepared tray and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4 Preheat oven to 200°C. Place flour in a shallow bowl. Whisk eggs and milk together in another shallow bowl. Place remaining breadcrumbs in a rimmed baking sheet. Dip one ball into flour, then egg mixture and then breadcrumbs, pressing breadcrumbs to secure. Return ball to prepared tray. Continue to coat remaining balls. Spray balls with oil, then bake for 20 minutes or until golden and warmed through.
5 Meanwhile, to make creamy basil sauce, heat oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until bubbling. Gradually stir in stock and cream. Bring to the boil and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly. Remove pan from heat. Stir in chopped basil. Season with freshly ground black pepper. Serve balls with basil sauce.
HFG tip
Instead of using the fluffier white quinoa, you can make these balls with tri-coloured quinoa for extra texture.
Nutrition Info (per serve)
-
Calories 59cal
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Kilojoules 245kJ
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Protein 2.6g
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Total fat 2.1g
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–Saturated fat 0.8g
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Carbohydrates 6.8g
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–Sugars 0.5g
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Dietary fibre 0.9g
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Sodium 51mg
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Calcium 34mg
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Iron 0.5mg
© Healthy Food Guide All rights reserved. Reproduction without written permission prohibited.
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