Vegan meatballs with orzo

• Finely chop the parsley then peel and finely chop the garlic. Soak the chia seeds in a bowl with 4 tablespoons of cold water for about 10 minutes until it forms a gel.
• Place all meatball ingredients in a large bowl and mix with your hands, being sure not to overmix, as it will make the meatballs dense-textured and heavy.
• Pinch out pieces of the mix and form them into walnut-size balls, putting them on a clean plate. You should get about 20 meatballs.

Make the sauce

• Heat the oil in a heavy based saucepan that’s large enough to take the meatballs and pasta.
• Add the diced onion with the salt and cook over a medium heat, stirring every now and again, for about 10 minutes until softened.
• Add the wine and simmer for a further 10 minutes then add the tomatoes, tomato puree, paprika, chilli flakes, vinegar, brown sugar and butter. Fill both empty tins with the water, give them a good swill, pour into the pan, bring the sauce to a simmer, put the lid on and cook for 30-35 minutes.

Cook the meatballs

• Drop the meatballs gently into the simmering sauce; bring back to the boil, turn the heat down again to a simmer, put the lid back on and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Tip in the orzo, stir gently and increase the heat to bring the mixture back to a bubble. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked.
• Stir it occasionally throughout this time to make sure the orzo isn’t sticking to the bottom of the pan.

To serve

• Spoon the pasta into bowls, sprinkle with parsley, nooch and a handful of rocket, add a squeeze of lemon juice and tuck in.

Recipe adapted from BOSH! Meat: Over 100 Outrageously tasty recipes (HQ, HarperCollins)