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Foodie Friday: Vegetarian Eggplant Meatballs

Christine
Oct 2, 2015
3 min read

I love trying new recipes I find on pinterest, and I love spaghetti, but I’m not a huge fan of meatballs. So when I found a recipe for eggplant meatballs, I just needed to try them out. So I undertook the task of constructing these meatless meatballs, and used them to top some spaghetti squash, and I was no disappointed with these. They deliver on taste, texture, and overall yum factor. The crazy part? They look just like meatballs! Not to mention, they’re pretty easy to make and require very few ingredients!

So let’s get into this recipe, shall we?

I found the recipe on pinterest, but the original can be found here: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2015/07/eggplant-meatballs.html?m=1

Ingredients and directions:

Ingredients:

•cooking spray

•1/2 tbsp olive oil

•1 1/4 lbs unpeeled eggplant, cut into 1-inch pieces

•kosher salt

•1/4 tsp black pepper

•2 garlic cloves, crushed

•2 tbsp chopped basil, plus leaves for garnish

•1 1/2 cups Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

•1 large egg, beaten

•2 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese, freshly grated, plus more for serving

•1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley

•1 (25.25 ounce jar) DeLallo Pomodoro sauce

part skim ricotta cheese, for serving (optional)

Directions (taken from skinnytaste.com):

Heat the oven to 375°F. Spray a large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.

Place 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. When hot add the eggplant and 1/4 cup water.
Season with salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring occasionally until tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
Transfer to the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times.
Transfer to a bowl and add bread crumbs, beaten egg, Romano cheese, parsley, garlic and chopped basil into the eggplant.
Season with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper.
Form the eggplant mixture into 24 balls about 1 1/8 oz each, rolling tightly and transfer to the prepared baking sheet.
Bake until firm and browned, about 20 to 25 minutes.

My tips & tricks:

Okay, so I altered this recipe A LOT.

To begin, I cut out about half of the ingredients. I excluded cooking spray, basil, Romano cheese, ricotta cheese, and parsley. I also substituted regular breadcrumbs for Italian breadcrumbs, used garlic powder instead of a clove, and used Prego brand sauce rather than the brand mentioned in the recipe.
I used oregano in the recipe as well as parmesan cheese.
Rather than baking the meatballs, I fried them in a skillet using olive oil. I poured a thin layer in the bottom of the skillet, let it heat, and cooked the meatballs until they were browned on all sides.
I prepped these ahead, and once they were fried, I refrigerated them. later that night, I cooked them in pasta sauce.
I used a blender rather than a food processor.
I had to eyeball a lot of the ingredients because I made a smaller batch than indicated in the recipe.

My review:

I loved these! I will definitely be making them again in the future. I ate these with Prego veggie sauce, and spaghetti squash. They had an amazing flavor and I will definitely be making again with the rest of my eggplant. They are a great substitution for vegetarians or people who just prefer vegetables to meat. I shared them with my friends and roommates, and everyone enjoyed them. I definitely recommend this simple and delicious meatball alternative!