VEGETARIAN "MEATBALLS"
These "meatballs" are about as close to the real thing as I have been able to come up with. They are a bit fragile to handle, until you cook them, so be careful turning in the pan, etc. This recipe is NOT vegan, because they just are not good without cheese and egg in them. If you have a good vegan parmesan substitute, try using it.What you need:
One large eggplant (the big ones with the purple skin; or equivalent of at least 1 lb.)
1 1/2 cups Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs* (Make your own, Recipe below)
3-4 Cloves Garlic, Finely Chopped
1/2 Cup Parmesan or Romano Cheese
1 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning (Oregano, Basil, Thyme, Rosemary)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 Cup all-purpose flour
2 Eggs
Olive Oil
What you do:
Wash and slice the eggplant lengthwise. Take the two halves and place skin side up on a cookie sheet or shallow pan in just enough water to create steam. Roast at 350 degrees until eggplant is tender.(Eggplant should be very soft. Roast a bit longer if necessary.) Remove from oven and cool enough to handle. Peel skin from eggplant halves and chop into small pieces.
In a large bowl, combine eggplant, onion, 3/4 cup bread crumbs, 1 egg, cheese and salt. Mix throughly; use your hands if necessary. If they are a little dry when mixing, sprinkle with just a bit of warm water, being careful not to get too moist. Cool and chill 2 to 3 hours or overnight.
When ready to prepare, place flour in a bowl. Beat the remaining egg in a separate small bowl. Roll into small balls or drop mixture by heaping teaspoonfuls into the flour and coat completely. Then dip the eggplant balls into the beaten egg; finally, coat the balls with the remaining bread crumbs. In a large skillet, heat oil and fry eggplant balls until they are heated through and beginning to be crispy.
*To make this recipe even healthier, skip the flour-bread crumb prep and just roll the eggplant-cheese mixture into balls and bake them at about 400 degrees until they are browned. Turn them once if you bake.
Serve these with marinara sauce and pasta, just like any other meatballs. These are yummy. Just remember that they do not hold together like real meatballs. If you have any leftovers, they are especially good if you heat in the oven instead of the microwave to re-serve.
Seasoned Bread Crumbs
**Try making your own breadcrumbs. Bread that is too stale to eat plain is perfect to use. I take the bread and cut into cubes, then saute in a just little butter (or olive oil, depends on the mood, you know) and garlic. Sprinkle with a bit of sea salt. You can also make all kinds of seasoned crumbs, just by seasoning with herbs and spices, at this point. Toss frequently while sauteing. After they are nice and coated and just beginning to turn brownish, I put them on a cookie sheet and bake at 200 degrees in the oven until completely toasty. How long that takes depends on how much butter you used and how saturated they were. They will not be dry like storebought crumbs, but boy are they tasty. Use your hands to crumble them when they are cool enough to handle..that is the fun part. Even though not fine crumbs, they give this recipe a kind of rustic character. If you want them finer, use the blender.
Or don't crumble then and you can use them as croutons in your salads. Store crumbs or croutons in an airtight container. If you want to make them ahead or in quantity, store container in freezer. I don't recommend long term storage (more than a couple of days) for croutons, unless you are willing to retoast them before you use them, but the crumbs will do fine, since you can add them staight from the freezer to your recipes.
Since stale bread works so much better, when I am making croutons (crumbs) to store, I buy a loaf of whatever bread I want to use, take it home and leave it sitting on the counter, open to the air, for a day. It gets stale pretty quickly that way. Sounds like a waste of a good loaf of bread, but an 8 oz container of bread crumbs costs $1.89 or more and I can get twice the volume from a loaf of bread. So, unless the bread costs $3.78, I am ahead.
