Eggplant Meatballs

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450g eggplant
4 tbs olive oil
2 cups breadcrumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 egg
1/4 tsp kosher salt
ground black pepper
1/4 cup breadcrumbs, extra for crumbing

Do
Wash and peel the eggplant, using a vegetable peeler.

Cut the eggplant into the size of large dice (about 2 cm cube).

Place the eggplant in a large bowl, cover with a generous amount of salt and cover with warm water. Leave to sit for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius ) fan-forced)

Drain the eggplant in a colander and rinse with cold water for 1 to 2 minutes.

Place the eggplant on a baking tray, lined with baking paper.

Use a paper towel to absorb some more water from the eggplant.

Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with the olive oil.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a cake cooling rack over a plate, drizzle with extra olive oil. Leave to cool for 15 minutes.

Place breadcrumbs, parmesan, parsley, egg and salt and pepper in a mixing bowl.

Add the eggplant and combine with your hands. Be quite firm to break down the eggplant.

Shape heaped tablespoons of mixture into golf ball sized balls.

Roll the meatballs in extra breadcrumbs to coat them well. I do this in a large flat salad bowl. Leave the crumbed meatballs in the bowl by pushing them off to the side of the bowl and continue rolling the remaining meatballs in a separate section of the bowl.

Place meatballs on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Bake for 10 minutes and then turn over and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes. These can overcook quickly, watch closely.

Adding more tomato paste will make them tangy. Don’t overdo the parsley. In the Miele oven you don’t need olive oil spray.