Eggplant Meatballs in Tomato Sauce.
This dish is a must in typical Sicilian cuisine.
Always ready at any time, because you can prepare them in advance, both the mixture and the finished product, and serve them whenever you need them. Great for vegetarian cooking.
You can enjoy them immersed in sauce, or simply fried as finger food, both in summer and winter.
They have a cheesy heart inside that makes them enjoyable for both adults and children.
With the sauce, you can also dress pasta.

Moreover, before immersing the meatballs in the sauce, you can fry them in a pan, in the air fryer, or in a ventilated oven.

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Difficulty: Very Easy
Cost: Very Cheap
Preparation time: 40 Minutes
Portions: 6
Cooking methods: Electric Oven, Frying, Air Frying
Cuisine: Regional Italian
Region: Sicily
Seasonality: All Seasons

439.60 Kcal

calories per serving

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Energy 439.60 (Kcal)
Carbohydrates 37.79 (g) of which sugars 5.35 (g)
Proteins 19.46 (g)
Fat 24.67 (g) of which saturated 4.11 (g)of which unsaturated 2.32 (g)
Fibers 5.76 (g)
Sodium 934.57 (mg)

Indicative values for a portion of 200 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA^* and FoodData Central^** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.

^* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ^** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov

Ingredients

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1.1 lbs eggplants
2 eggs
3.5 oz scamorza (or provolone)
2 cups breadcrumbs
1.8 oz Pecorino Romano
to taste chopped parsley
to taste garlic
to taste salt
to taste dried oregano
to taste pepper
to taste extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch basil
24.7 oz tomato sauce

Tools

What we need to make

Baking Pan
Oven
Blender / Mixer
Frying Pan
Bowl
Knife

Preparation: Eggplant Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

For this recipe, I prefer to bake the eggplants, so they dry out and absorb less breadcrumbs, while there are versions where they are boiled and then placed under weight to drain the water.
Cut the eggplants into cubes with the skin on. Spread them on the baking tray with a sheet of parchment paper underneath. Season with salt, pepper, oregano, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, to taste, and bake at 356°F (180°C) for 20 minutes, then set aside in a bowl.
When they are warm, combine the eggs, half of the breadcrumbs, chopped parsley, 1 clove of minced garlic, grated Pecorino Romano, a pinch of salt and pepper, and mix.
Cut the provolone into cubes and set aside.
Form meatballs about 0.8 inches (2 cm) in diameter, and insert a cheese cube into each.
Then bread each meatball with the remaining breadcrumbs.
For a lighter recipe, you could skip this step.
Now they are ready to be fried, in a pan, in the air fryer, or in the oven.
For oven cooking, just bake them for about 5 minutes at 356°F (180°C).
For the air fryer, at 392°F (200°C) for 5 minutes.
I prefer them fried.
Pour olive oil into a pan, bring it to high temperature, and cook them 2 minutes per side, turning them gently.
As they cook, place them on a paper towel.
Now that you’ve fried them all, you have 2 options: either immerse them in tomato sauce, or eat them as is.
For the sauce, I make it very simple: I return the meatballs to the same pan, add the tomato sauce, a pinch of salt, and plenty of basil. I don’t add more oil to keep them lighter since they’re already fried.
If instead, you have previously cooked the meatballs in the oven or air fryer, prepare the tomato sauce simply with just tomato sauce, salt, and basil.
Then mix gently and cook with a splatter guard for about 10 minutes.
The Eggplant Meatballs in Tomato Sauce are ready. You can use the sauce to dress pasta.
Enjoy your meal.