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Italian Eggplant Meatballs recipe
Italian Eggplant Meatballs (Polpette di Melanzane) are delicious veggie balls made with eggplant, ricotta cheese and parmigiano. You can bread them and pan fry or bake, we're going to show you both cooking methods.They are perfect for a delicious finger food party or an aperitivo with friends. With a side of a salad or fresh vegetables, these Italian Eggplant balls are also an excellent complete dish.
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
- 1 eggplants - large or 2 small
- 3 tablespoons olive oil - extra virgin
- 1 egg
- 2 cloves garlic - peeled and left whole
- 60 g Parmigiano cheese - ½ cup, grated
- 60 g breadcrumbs - ½ cup
- 150 g Ricotta cheese - ~5 oz
- ½ tablespoon tomato paste
- 220 ml Grapeseed - 1 cup, for frying
For the Breading
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Wash the eggplant, remove the stalk, cut it into slices and then cut into small cubes of about 1 cm (half inch). It's important to make cubes that aren't very large because otherwise you may have trouble making the meatballs later; but not too small because otherwise they will melt during cooking. Instead, inside the meatball, you should see the small pieces of eggplant.
- Cook the eggplant cubes in a pan with two cloves of garlic, three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt to taste, for about 5 minutes on medium heat covered witha lid. To easily remove the garlic cloves, which could be confused with the eggplant pieces, one trick is to pierce them with a toothpick
- Remove the garlic and add ½ tablespoon of tomato paste. Cook for another 5 minutes stirring occasionally to allow for even cooking.
- When the eggplants are cooked, after about 10 minutes, turn off the heat and transfer the eggplants in a large bowl. Let it cool down a few minutes then add the other ingredients: ricotta, 1 egg, bread crumbs and grated Parmigiano cheese.
- Mix everything to form a compact but soft mixture. You can then move on to the breading. So prepare two dishes: one with the egg beaten with a fork and lightly salted, the other with the breadcrumbs.
- Grease your hands with a bit of oil and shape your polpette. Make not very big balls, about 4 cm in diameter (1 ½ inch).
- Dip the eggplant polpette first in the beaten egg and then in the breadcrumbs. If you prefer a more consistent breading, pass the meatballs a second time in the beaten egg and then again in the breadcrumbs. Bread all the eggplant balls and then place them in a separate dish, ready to be pan-fried.
- Then start cooking in hot vegetable oil. Fry the meatballs turning them gently from time to time. Brown them well on all sides.
- When they are cooked, scoop them out with a slotted spoon and let them drain on kitchen paper to remove excess oil. Your Italian Eggplant Meatballs are ready! Serve immediately still hot.
Nutrition
Serving: 100gCalories: 379kcalCarbohydrates: 39gProtein: 16gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 101mgSodium: 562mgPotassium: 348mgFiber: 4gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 346IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 276mgIron: 3mg
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