Italian-Style Meatless Meatloaf Muffins

(I ran another half marathon recently. Check out my race re-cap over at Run, Rev, Run.)

I haven’t been a very good food blogger. Oh, I’ve been cooking now and again, even trying new recipes, but I haven’t been sharing them. And I’m not going to the Food Blog Forum here in Nashville this coming weekend, even though some of my favorite people & bloggers are running the show.

I’m cheating on blogging with my job. I love, love, love my job. I’ve never been so exhausted and so happy to be doing something. But a few things have had to give, namely being connected to my various online communities. Even Joe noted, “You’re working as much as I do.” Um, yeah.

As I began to adjust to my new schedule, posting might be light for a little while. I’m still here though!

It’s evident I haven’t been as experimental in the kitchen as I used to be. Joe has re-developed his wariness at new things like these meatloaf muffins. I also didn’t go to great lengths to point out that they’re vegan, but he gobbled them up even after I named “nutritional yeast” as one of the ingredients. He preferred the mashed pinto beans to the tempeh in this recipe. They didn’t hold together quite as much as I would’ve liked, but they did make for pretty decent leftovers.

Italian-Style Meatless Meatloaf Muffins
source: Peas and Thank You
4 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup marinara sauce, jarred or homemade, divided
• 1/4 c. flax seed, ground
• Two 14 oz cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 of a large onion, chopped
• 3/4 c. oats
• 1 t. minced garlic
• 1T. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 t. olive oil
• 2 T. nutritional yeast
• 1/2 t. dried oregano
• 1 t. dried parsley
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 t. cracked black pepper

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a small bowl, combine 1/4 c. of the marinara sauce and the ground flax. Stir to combine and set aside to thicken.
• In a large bowl, mash pinto beans with a fork or potato masher. Do not over mash, we aren’t looking for refried beans, but a nice chunky texture.
• Add onion, oats, garlic, Worcestershire, olive oil, nutritional yeast, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
• Add in marinara-flax mixture and stir until fully incorporated.
• Scoop bean mixture into a muffin tin that has been lightly greased or sprayed with cooking spray.
• Bake for 15-17 minutes, until edges are starting to brown. Top each muffin with a spoonful of marinara. Return to oven for another 10-12 minutes, until muffins are firm and set.
• Allow muffins to cool for several minutes, as they will firm up even more, before serving.

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