Baked Aubergine (Eggplant) Balls
"My toddler loves to eat eggplant this way. To increase the variety of foods she was eating and because I had no breadcrumbs I substituted ground almonds and couscous with good effect. I have also substituted the parsley with finely chopped up vegetables. This is a good base recipe to play around with."
photo by Ambervim
- Ready In:
- 1hr
- Ingredients:
- 8
- Yields:
-
18 balls
ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 cups cubed eggplants, with peel
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1⁄2 cup grated cheese
- 1 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 3⁄4 cup dried breadcrumbs
directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Grease a baking sheet.
- Heat a medium skillet over medium heat.
- Pour in olive oil and saute garlic just until lightly browned.
- Mix in eggplant and water.
- Reduce heat to low and cover skillet.
- Allow eggplant to steam until soft, about 20 minutes.
- Place eggplant in a large bowl and allow to cool slightly.
- Mix cheese, parsley, eggs, and bread crumbs into eggplant.
- Stir with a wooden spoon or your hands until ingredients are thoroughly combined and mixture can be rolled into balls.
- Add more bread crumbs as needed to make mixture workable.
- Refrigerate mixture for 15 minutes, then roll into balls or form into patties.
- Place eggplant balls on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
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Reviews
-
Delicious! My 13-month-old enjoys them too. I substitued about half of the bread crumbs with wheat germ which worked well, and instead of parsley I used cooked broccoli. I'm thrilled that my toddler liked it so much. :) -
Great base. Form and bake well. Bland....however I realize you made them for young children. In future I will spice them up or serve with a great dipping sauce for adults. I used Panko bread crumbs and just about doubled the quantity in the recipe. I used cheddar cheese and realize changing the type of cheese could make a great difference. -
This needs something, a little bland. It doesn't specify the cheese, we use parmesan. It definitely needs sauce for dipping!!! -
Thanks for this Missy Wombat - it really is a good base recipe. I used couscous instead of breadcrumbs and subbed thawed chopped spinach for the parsley, as well as adding some spices. Served it as an accompaniment to a spicy carrot soup and it went down really well!
Tweaks
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Delicious! My 13-month-old enjoys them too. I substitued about half of the bread crumbs with wheat germ which worked well, and instead of parsley I used cooked broccoli. I'm thrilled that my toddler liked it so much. :)
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Thanks for this Missy Wombat - it really is a good base recipe. I used couscous instead of breadcrumbs and subbed thawed chopped spinach for the parsley, as well as adding some spices. Served it as an accompaniment to a spicy carrot soup and it went down really well!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Missy Wombat
Australia
I'm an ex-pat NZer living in the tropical Top End of Australia. Which makes it a perfect place to make homemade bread and summer recipes all year around. I experiment on my 3 kids who have grown up trying new Zaar recipes every other day and they are thriving.
I'm the lacto-ovo vegetarian in the family and somehow I got roped in to become a Forum Host here at Zaar. So check out the Vegetarian and Vegan Forum http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewforum.zsp?f=43 and feel free to join in whether you are a fully fledged vegan or someone who needs to cater for a vegetarian and has no idea where to start.
Every year I try to do something a bit different to push the envelope a little bit. In 2005 I learned how to sail a dinghy; 2006's grand passion is mosaics. Check out my blog!
Between raising three children, working almost fulltime and trying to pursue my hobbies...let's say that my time management skills have greatly improved over the years!
I am also very interested in living a sustainable lifestyle. Essentially I'm finding that I'm getting back to the country lifestyle I enjoyed in my childhood even though these days I live in themiddle of suburbia. To this end I have started gardening although I am a total gardening virgin when it comes to gardening in a tropical climate. I also have a cookbook with a number of recipes you can make from scratch. Living clean and green is good for you AND cheaper!
