Warning, meat-eaters. If these don't convert you nothing will...

Second treat of Christmas: Eggplant "meat"balls!

So one of my very dearest bestest friends sent me a recipe for eggplant meatballs a couple weeks ago. I was really excited at the thought of homemade, vegetarian "meat"balls. The store bought ones I tried a while ago were fine, but the ones I didn't eat are still sitting in the freezer. I'm afraid they'll be staying there because these eggplant meatballs are the epitome of "meaty" to me. Eggplants tend to be pretty substantial in a sandwich, adding a fulfilling aspect to meals. I couldn't stop saying, "Mmmm...mmmm!" while eating these. I guess it was a lot of praise because Hubby asked me, "Do you not like them and are just trying to hide it?" But I wasn't! Maybe I'm just super appreciative of a good vegetarian substitution, but I thought these were the ultimate home run. I also loved them because all I had to buy was an eggplant for less than $2. Seriously? SCORE.

Obviously the star of these "meat"balls was the eggplant. To prep the eggplant, you sauteed some garlic in oil until they browned. I confess, I doubled the amount of garlic called for because I just love, love, love garlic. Once the garlic browned, you threw in the cubed eggplant to steam with some water. They sat until they cooked through and then I took off the lid to let them cool a bit. Meanwhile, you make a scrumptious mixture of breadcrumbs ( made my own from whole grain bread), LOTS of parsley (YAY!), salt, pepper, eggs, red pepper, and parmesan cheese. I also sauteed some shallots we had lying around just because I love shallots and a splash of oats. Yes, as you can tell, I'm a big fan of oats and it added a kick of healthiness and texture! As predicated, you toss everything together and let it sit in the refrigerator to "flavorize" and cool so they are easier to form later before baking.







I let the mixture sit overnight so we would have them for dinner the next evening. Ken was in charge of forming and baking since I was on an interview. He reported they were really easy to mold, stayed together, and got a good bit browning in the oven. He said he made the mistake of adding the baked meatballs to our cooking pasta sauce, where they started to fall apart a bit. It didn't even matter to me because I was totally convinced I was having a "meaty" meatball because of the texture and taste. If I remember  correctly, (it was a while ago) meatballs were always tender in the middle, not chewy like some meat can be. These were reminiscent of my grandmom's meatballs, though she would shake her head at that! Next time we'll just pour sauce on them once we're ready to eat, but really, I have zero complaints. These were little balls of loveliness for sure!

Courtesy of Grocery Budget 101
EGGPLANT MEATBALLS

3 tbs olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups peeled, cubed eggplant
1 tbs water
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup dried Italian Seasoned bread crumbs
1 tsp. Red pepper Flakes
1 tsp Salt
dash black pepper

Preheat oven to 350F, Lightly spray or grease a baking sheet.

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat, add the garlic and saute until lightly browned. Add raw cubed eggplant and water, cover and reduce the heat to simmer/steam until soft, about 20 minutes. Place eggplant/garlic mixture in a large bowl and allow to cool slightly.

In a small bowl combine cheese,

 parsley, eggs, salt, pepper, red pepper and bread crumbs, until mix, add eggplant/garlic mixture, stirring until ingredients are thoroughly combined and mixture can be rolled into balls. Add additional bread crumbs as needed to make mixture workable. 

Place the meatball mixture into the refrigerator for about 15 minutes, then roll ninto balls, or scoop with a cookie dough or ice cream scoop. Place the meatballs on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Serve immediately with your favorite marinara sauce
.