Eggplant balls

Polpette di melanzane

Ingredients 16-24 balls

2 large aubergines cut into cubes

Olive oil

2-3 cloves of garlic

Chilli flakes (to taste)

50 grams grated pecorino cheese

50 grams grated parmesan cheese

200 grams of finely chopped mozzarella

80-100 grams of finely ground pine nuts

2 eggs beaten

Juice of 1 lemon

Grated zest of 1/2 lemon

20 fresh basil leaves

Breadcrumbs (half a packet or more)

Pepper and salt (to taste)

Oven

🕐 15🔪 15 🍳 30 ⏱️ 👩🏼🍳

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

2. Cut the aubergines into small cubes and fry them in olive oil with garlic and peppers. Add a little salt. Occasionally press the aubergines hard with a spatula to squeeze out all the moisture. Then let the mixture cool off a little.

3. Meanwhile, cut and chop the other ingredients and mix the pecorino cheese, parmesan, pine nuts and mozzarella pieces in a bowl.

4. Beat the eggs and stir in. Add lemon, tear basil leaves small and add. 5. Stir in the slightly cooled eggplants and then mix in the breadcrumbs until a nice solid substance forms. You can test whether the substance is firm enough by rolling it into a ball. If it still falls apart, add a little more breadcrumbs.

6. Chop everything with a hand blender so that it becomes one whole. The balls can also remain 'coarse', in which case you do not need to use a hand blender. Season with salt and pepper (not too much because the cheese already makes the mixture slightly saltier).

7. Roll out balls the size of walnuts and place on a baking tray covered with baking paper. Slide the tray into the oven and bake for about 10-15 minutes. Then turn the balls. Bake for a total of 25-30 minutes until they are nicely browned on all sides. If you have made them a little larger, they will need a little more time.

8. Leave to cool slightly and eat immediately. Or let them cool off a little and keep them in the fridge. They will keep for at least five days in the fridge. Then they are easy to warm up. But they are also delicious cold.

👉🏽 It is a misconception that eggplants must be put in salt first. If they are baked with salt added and quite a bit of moisture is squeezed out during the baking process, the end result is tastier because the juices are used in the baking process.

The mixture for the balls can also be made the day before and on the day of use you just have to make balls and put them in the oven.

👉🏽 This version is made with aubergine, but they can also be made with courgette and gorgonzola. In that case, replace half of the mozzarella with gorgonzola.

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Nice to know

Italians love all kinds of meatballs. Every region has its own recipe for meatballs. Sometimes 'in bianco' (stewed in white wine sauce), sometimes 'in umido' (in meat gravy) and sometimes 'in rosso' (stewed in tomato sauce). Although Italians love meat and fish, they are also very fond of vegetarian dishes. When friends first ate these balls, they were convinced they were made with meat. Children who say they don't like aubergines even love them.