The meat and eggplant meatballs without eggs are light, soft, and tasty.
For the preparation of my meatballs, I used selected minced meat, a mix of beef and pork, lean first cut – if you desire even leaner meatballs, you can use minced white meat like chicken or turkey, preferably breast.
I used eggplant to prepare a light eggplant cream that makes the meatballs light and soft without adding milk or eggs.
Cooking in the oven or air fryer, in a pan or with sauce.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 2People
- Cooking methods: Electric oven, Air frying, Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
For the preparation of my meatballs, I used:
selected minced meat, a mix of beef and pork, lean first cut – if you desire even leaner meatballs, you can use minced white meat like chicken or turkey, preferably breast.
- 1 berry black oval eggplant
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch mixed peppercorns (with grinder)
- as needed aromatic herbs (basil or mint or parsley)
- 8.5 oz mixed ground meat (beef and pork, lean, first cut)
- 2 tbsp breadcrumbs (or whole wheat breadcrumbs)
- 2 tbsp cheese (grated: caciocavallo or grana or parmesan)
- 1 pinch garlic powder (optional)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch mixed peppercorns (with grinder)
- as needed chopped parsley
- as needed eggplant cream
Suggested Tools
- Chopper or Mixer
- 1 Bowl
- Measuring Spoons
- 1 Plate or tray
Preparation
Thoroughly wash the eggplant, remove the skin, and cut it into chunks, removing the seed part – which, if you have chosen a good berry, will be few or absent.
Place the eggplant chunks in a saucepan without water and stir for a couple of minutes as if you want to brown them.
Add enough water to cover them – without overdoing it: if you add too much, they float.
Cook over low heat for about 10 minutes, until they are tender.
Drain them, wait until they are lukewarm, and squeeze them well with your hands to remove excess water.Put in the mixer:
– the boiled and squeezed eggplant;
– a pinch of salt;
– a pinch of pepper;
– you can personalize it by adding basil, mint, or parsley;
and blend until you get a smooth and velvety cream.
In a bowl, add:
– the ground meat;
– the breadcrumbs or whole wheat breadcrumbs, a 15 g measuring spoon or 1 heaped tablespoon;
– the grated cheese, a 15 g measuring spoon or 1 heaped tablespoon;
– garlic powder [optional];
– a pinch of salt;
– a pinch of pepper;
– chopped parsley if desired;
– the eggplant cream in the quantity as needed to obtain a soft but moldable dough, just like when adding eggs;
and mix the ingredients well until you get a homogeneous mixture.With your hands, form balls and place them on a plate or tray.
To get uniform meatballs, you can use a 7.5 g or 15 g measuring spoon according to the desired size.
You can vary the size and shape according to taste: small or medium, round or flattened.
Your meat and eggplant meatballs without eggs are ready to be cooked.
You can cook your meat and eggplant meatballs in the oven or in an air fryer, in a pan, and in sauce.
Being a ground meat-based preparation, the meatballs must always be well cooked and not rare to avoid the risk of foodborne diseases from pathogenic microorganisms.Oven cooking
Preheat the oven.
Cook in a ventilated oven at 356°F for about 20 minutes.Air fryer cooking
Follow the instructions – program, temperature, and times – indicated in your appliance’s user manual.
Check the cooking level from time to time.
For the detailed step-by-step procedure you can read the complete recipe by clicking on the following link: meatballs without eggs in air fryer.Pan cooking
Gloss the meatballs on all sides with as needed extra virgin olive oil using a silicone brush and proceed with cooking in a non-stick pan.Cooking in sauce
In a saucepan, heat the tomato sauce until it boils, add the meatballs and
let them cook with a preferably glass lid and over low heat until fully cooked and the sauce is reduced.
Cooking times may vary based on the shape and size of your meatballs.
Turn them halfway through cooking to even out the color.– meatballs;
– meatloaf;
– hamburgers and mini hamburgers.
Storage, tips and variations
You can use gluten-free breadcrumbs for a gluten-free version.
You can omit the cheese.
You can flavor the mixture with aromatic herbs or spices.
Cooked meatballs can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for a couple of days.
You can heat them in the oven or air fryer.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
You should know!
Being a ground meat-based preparation it must always be well cooked and not rare to avoid the risk of foodborne diseases from pathogenic microorganisms.
On a steak, any contamination remains superficial and is eliminated during cooking.
– for this reason, it is possible to eat a rare or lightly cooked steak.
In ground meat-based preparations, contamination can spread inside.
– for this reason, when consuming hamburgers, meatballs, or other ground meat-based dishes, it is important that cooking is complete and there are no areas with a pink color or undercooked.
