Not only for vegetarians of course, these make a fantastic light lunch or a different starter for a very nice dinner. Totally gluten free. Can be prepared a lot in advance, and even frozen (both cooked and uncooked).
Ingredients (2 each as a starter, 4 each as mains for a light lunch):
300gr cooked chickpeas (from a can)
2 courgettes
200gr raw instant polenta (this is corn ground into flour, if you use the "instant" version, the grain will be really fine)
1 egg
2 Tbsp grated parmesan
1 Tbsp Tahini paste
2 tsp fine salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper (or more, depending on taste)
2 tsp paprika
300gr mixed nuts
1 bag of crisps (either without flavour, or with salt and vinegar)
Method:
Grate the two courgettes, mix them with 1 tsp of salt, then put them into a colander over a bowl with a heavy weight on top for 1 hour
Using your hands, squeeze the grated courgettes and put them onto a clean kitchen towel, fold the towel and squeeze it to dry them as much as possible
Wash, drain, and pat dry with kitchen paper your cooked chickpeas - put them into a mixer
Add the egg, the salt, the spices, the Tahini and the parmesan to the mixer, then bliz it all into a paste
Put the paste into a bowl with your grated courgettes
Start mixing it thoroughly with a spoon first, then with your hands
Gradually add the instant raw polenta while mixing it - stop adding the polenta as soon as the mixture becomes solid enough for you to form medium sized balls
TIP: keep in mind these are not meat polpette, the mixture will not be quite stiff and the balls will be quite soft and delicate
Put the balls in the fridge for a minimum of two hours to a maximum of 24 hours (or freeze them)
Put your mixed nuts and crisps into a dry food processor and blitz until it gets like breadcrumbs
Take the balls out of the fridge and coat them with the nuts mixture, pressing it well around them and shaking off the excess
Fry a very small amount of balls at a time (I do 3) in a deep fat fryer at the maximum heat settings
TIP: I serve these with either Ajvar sauce or Tzatziki or both
TIP: I also freeze them once fried and cooled - in this case I then defrost them, then reheat them in a hot oven (200 degrees C) for 5 mins