Eggplant “Meatballs” in Tomato Sauce
Cuisine: Italian
Author: Domenica Marchetti copyright © 2013
This recipe sounds contrived, doesn’t it? An effort to create a meat-like dish out of a vegetable. But resourceful Italian cooks have been participating in such trickery for centuries. After all, meat was a scarcity in most Italian homes until fairly recently. Eggplant, with its meaty yet silky texture and its ability to absorb flavor, makes an excellent stand-in in this southern Italian classic. My kids like these patties as much as they like real meatballs.
Ingredients
  • 1 large (1 lb/455 g) shiny purple or lavender eggplant
  • 3 rounded cups/170 g fresh bread crumbs
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 2 garlic cloves, pressed
  • ½ tsp fine sea salt
  • 2 oz/60 g Pecorino Romano cheese, freshly grated
  • 1 Tbsp minced fresh basil
  • 1 Tbsp minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • unbleached all-purpose flour for dredging
  • vegetable oil for frying
  • 3 cups/720 ml Simple Tomato Sauce (recipe follows), heated to a simmer in a saucepan big enough to hold all the eggplant “meatballs”
  • freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese for serving
Instructions
  1. Heat the oven to 350°F/180°C/gas 4.
  2. Using the tines of a fork, prick the eggplant here and there a few times. Set on a small rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour, or until the skin is crinkled and collapsed and the interior is completely tender. Remove from the oven and let sit briefly to cool. Slice the eggplant open lengthwise and scoop the flesh onto a cutting board. Discard the skin.
  3. Mash the eggplant with a potato masher, or chop it coarsely with a chef’s knife. Scoop the flesh into a large bowl and add the bread crumbs, eggs, garlic, salt, Pecorino Romano, basil, and parsley. Fold everything together gently but thoroughly with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula.
  4. Spoon about 1 cup/115 g of flour into a shallow bowl. Have ready a platter lined with waxed paper. Using your hands, form the eggplant mixture into golf ball-size balls. Dredge the balls in the flour and place them on the prepared platter. Press down on them gently to flatten them just a bit. You should end up with about fifteen 2-in/5-cm eggplant meatballs.
  5. Pour enough vegetable oil into a deep frying pan or cast-iron skillet to reach a depth of at least 1 in/2.5 cm. Place over medium-high heat and heat the oil to about 375°F/190°C on a deep-frying thermometer. If you do not have a thermometer, drop a tiny ball of the eggplant mixture into the oil; if it sizzles immediately, the oil is hot enough.
  6. Working in two batches, add the eggplant meatballs to the hot oil and fry until golden-brown on the bottom, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn with a spatula and fry the other side until golden-brown, 2 minutes more.
  7. Transfer the eggplant meatballs from the frying pan directly to the pan of sauce that is simmering on the stove over medium-low heat. Cook, turning the eggplant meatballs once or twice, until heated through, about 10 minutes. If the sauce seems too thick—the eggplant meatballs will absorb some of it—add 1 or 2 Tbsp of water and gently stir it into the sauce.
  8. Serve the eggplant meatballs hot, with a little tomato sauce spooned over them and a sprinkle of Parmigiano cheese on top.
Recipe by Simple Italy at https://www.simpleitaly.com/the-glorious-vegetables-of-italy/