This one’s a throwback, we first debuted this chunky beetball sub two years. Oldie? Yeah. Goldie? Definitely! The earthy full flavour of roasted beets combined with rich, sweet marinara sauce and a little bit of patience create something special. Meaty, moreish with notes of blue cheese, and did we mention its fully vegan? Well it is, no suffering here, besides jealousy if anyone sees you with one of these subs.

• 350g raw beets peeled and quartered
• 1 white onion sliced
• Oregano
• Smoked paprika
• 100g cooked pearl barley
• 150g rolled oats blitzed
• 1 tbsp Worchester sauce
• 400g homemade or good quality marinara sauce

So Beet Balls, simple but not exactly fast food. Start by oiling and seasoning your beets with salt, pepper, oregano and smoked paprika and chuck it in a medium oven for an hour or until its soft and starting to brown. Meanwhile caramelise the onion and pulse your oats to a fine crumb. Set everything aside till cool.

Chuck the beets, onions and Worcester sauce in the processor and blitz to a smooth paste. Put the paste in a mixing bowl and season well, don’t be shy it needs to pack a punch. First mix in the cooked pearl barley, this is mostly for texture. Next add the oats and mix well, it might get a little bit stiff but keep working at it (hey now). Roll your mix into golf ball size balls and leave in the fridge for an hour or so. At this point if your using homemade marinara get it on the stove, for ours we like a lot of garlic and molasses.

Lightly fry your beat balls all round till a darkish brown. This next step is where patience comes in; in a small pan or oven tray pour your hot marinara sauce over your balls and put in a low oven for at least an hour. This does two things, firstly reduces the marinara to a thick rich sauce perfect for a sub and second deeply intensifies the beet ball flavour massively. Let it cool for 10 mins or so before you throw it in a sub and chow down.

GP