eggplant meatballs

by Rachel McCarthy
Today I am sharing the most delicious non-meat meatballs you’ve ever had. Granted, I haven’t had many non-meat meatballs, but these are truly amazing; you won’t even miss the meat! When cooking, I always like experimenting with different ingredients and even replacing the traditional ingredients with non-traditional ingredients for a healthier version, or at least a different taste. 

One of my favorite days of the month is when the Food Network Magazine comes. There are always fun articles and yummy recipes that I love to use as inspiration for my own cooking. Typically, there is always something I change in a recipe to make it my own. But this eggplant meatball recipe from Melissa d’Arabian just seemed too perfect and I could not think of a thing to change! I made these this past weekend and they were just too good not to share with you all! It was a simple, easy to follow recipe that most definitely could be doubled to feed enough for a party or store some in the freezer. The only two discrepancies I found were the cooking time and the amount of meatballs made. In the original recipe, she lists the cooking time for the eggplant to be 40-50 minutes. I checked mine at 40 minutes and decided it definitely needed to cook longer. I ended up taking it out at 50 minutes, but it could have probably gone an extra 3-4 minutes. All ovens are different, so just keep an eye on it 🙂 And as for the number of eggplant meatballs made, I guess I was just a little too generous with the scoop 🙂 

Overall, this was a delicious addition to the normal spaghetti and is something I can see myself incorporating into other meals as well…just think eggplant meatball sandwiches 🙂

eggplant-meatballs

Eggplant Meatballs from Melissa d’Arabian
1 small eggplant
1/2 cup cannellini beans, drained & rinsed
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup chopped basil
1/2 grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
Non-stick cooking spray 
16 ounces of your favorite pasta
About 2 cups homemade or store bought marinara sauce
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking
sheet with foil and place the eggplant on top. Use a fork to prick the eggplant
4-5 times, then place the eggplant in the oven and roast it until it has
completely collapsed about 40 to 50
minutes {for me, it was closer to 50 minutes}. Cool the eggplant for about 20 minutes and leave the oven on. 
Slice the eggplant in half lengthwise and use a spoon to
scoop out the flesh, you can discard the skin. Place the eggplant flesh in a medium
bowl and stir in the egg and beans. Add the garlic, basil, Parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste and stir to combine. Fold in the panko breadcrumbs. 
Line the baking sheet with a clean piece of foil and lightly mist it with nonstick cooking spray. Shape the eggplant mixture into balls
about the size of a golf ball {roughly 2 tablespoons in size. I got the odd number of 13 when I made mine, Melissa says 16 😉 }. Place them on the prepared baking sheet and lightly mist the top of each eggplant ball with spray. Bake the eggplant balls until they are golden brown and firm,
about 20 minutes.
While the meatballs cook, cook the pasta according to package directions and warm the marinara sauce in a small
saucepan. Remove the meatballs from the oven, sprinkle with a little extra Parmesan, if desired, and serve with the pasta and marinara sauce.
Thanks for stopping by and happy cooking! 

6 thoughts on “eggplant meatballs”

  2. Being a vegetarian I am always looking for new recipes. This will come in handy. By the way your blog is not loading to bloglovin' I was searching all over the feed for this as I spotted your post on IG. Thank you for sharing!

    1. Thanks, Dagmara! The eggplant meatballs were so good, I really didn't miss the meat. Thanks for letting me know. Something happened when I made the switch from WordPress to Blogger and I am trying to figure out how to reconnect to Bloglovin. I just noticed yesterday too!!

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