I used to go out food shopping with a list. This usually turned out to be as useful as a chocolate teapot because either the main ingredient that my whole menu was hinging on was not available or just looked past its best.
I have learnt to shop with an open mind, buying what looks good and plentiful. This week I was lured by a huge pile of deep purple lush aubergines and as I walked over I glanced down and was dazzled by the low low price (dazzled maybe be a little excessive but my heart rate certainly quickened). They were cheap, cheaper than I have ever seen them. Maybe it’s the Greek in me but I find it hard to walk past a bargain. Experience has taught me that it may be a bargain in the shop but it isn’t necessarily a bargain when I get home and don’t or can’t use it all up. They were not on my list and I didn’t have a recipe in mind. I told myself to carry on walking.
When I got home I unpacked and admired the heap of beautiful shiny plump aubergines. As I placed them in the fridge I silently congratulated myself on what a bargain and wise choice I had made, ignoring the nagging voice in the back of my mind which kept saying ‘so what are you going to make with them, bad choice, you are going to be wasting a good ingredient’.
The weather is freezing, the wind is ferocious and I don’t fancy going out again. I am determined to use the aubergines with what I have in the cupboard.
Nothing came to mind. I opened and shut cupboard doors for inspiration – nothing. I started to get cross with myself then I realised I was making the huge mistake of trying to think on an empty stomach. Five minutes later I was sitting comfortably with a slice of buttered date and walnut loaf and a hot cup of tea. As I relaxed, the prefect recipe floated into my mind – Polpette di Melanzane. Perfecto!
Perfecto it certainly is. Polpette di Melanzane roughly translated means aubergine meatballs but this recipe is meatless. The basic ingredients are aubergines, bread crumbs, pecorino, two egg yokes and herbs, the main ingredient being the aubergine. The quantity of bread crumbs and perconi can be altered to your taste and what you have to hand. The egg yolk is to bind the ingredients and the herbs are up to you. I like the flavour of mint and oregano but these can be replaced with others if you wish.
Polpette di Melanzane
Ingredients
2 large aubergines
2 cloves of garlic crushed
165g bread crumbs
80g grated pecorino
2 egg yolks
2 tsp fresh mint chopped finely
2 tsp oregano
salt and pepper for seasoning
A little oil for frying.
Method
Cook the aubergines.
There are two ways of cooking the aubergines for this recipe. Either cut the aubergine in half lengthwise and rub with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place onto a baking tray and roast in the oven at Gas 4/180C/350F for about 25 mins. When the flesh is soft remove from the oven and with a spoon scoop out the aubergine flesh. Squeezing any excess liquid from the flesh.
or
The other method is to cut up the aubergine into cubes and gentle poach in a pan of simmering water for ten minutes or until soft. Drain, squeezing any excess liquid from the flesh. This method uses the whole aubergine whilst baking them wastes the skin (I used this method).
It is important to squeeze out the liquid otherwise the balls will fall apart.
In a bowl add the cooked aubergine, the breadcrumbs, grated pecorino cheese, egg yolks, herbs and seasoning and mix well. The best way is to use your hands. The mixture should be firm enough to roll into small balls.
In a frying pan heat a little oil and fry the balls in batches. Once they are golden brown remove. Place onto kitchen paper.
Serve.
I prefer to eat mine with pasta and a simple tomato sauce. When the tomato sauce is ready just add the aubergine balls so they cook for a few minutes and are heated through.
Maria Dernikos 
Very yummy dish, Maria! I love aubergines!
Thank you Stefano – I share your love of aubergines.
Oh Maria! I love this recipe. We are huge fans of polpette di melanzane. We used the second method (the frying one) and usually we serve them as appetizer. I never though about eating them with pasta. It is a great idea! The plate that you picked for the picture is gorgeous!
Oh thank you Francesca. This recipe has too many good points to mention! I was told when serving it that the aubergines were a good way to pad out the meat, I had to break the news that they contained no meat!! Thank you re your comment on the plate, it belonged to my great grandmother so I thought fitting for such a lovely recipe.
These polpette look delicious, Maria.
Thank you. They really are worth making especially if you are cooking for someone who isn’t eating meat.
I cannot believe the timing of this post! I was up all night last night looking to figure out what to do with my eggplants! Yum!
I agree, lists are pointless – always something fundamental I can’t find, here especially.No way I could have walked past cheap aubergines either – in fact, any aubergines 🙂 I’m always amazed when people tell me they don’t like aubergine – it is so versatile, as you have shown with this delightful recipe. Thanks.
I don’t understand either – whats not to like?! Aubergine is such a wonderful ingredient and it seems to be getting more and more popular. Which is all good.
This is the kind of food that could make one become a vegetarian. Sounds delicious and like you, I’d probably serve it with pasta and sauce. I’m having such fun learning new words on your blog and others… your aubergine, our eggplant.
Thank you. It is a very good recipe for vegetarians and is delicious. As I read different blogs I often have to look up new words too, it is interesting. I love the completely different world you connect me with your website on Corning NY.
also a dedicated fan of eggplant (as we call them in Canada) and this dish looks very enticing!
Yes I wonder how the aubergine/eggplant came to be called such different names?
aha – a question for Wikipedia!! …”Some 18th-century European cultivars were yellow or white and resembled goose or hen’s eggs, hence the name “eggplant.”
A rose by any other name….
This sounds wonderful, Maria, and such a clever idea. The melanzane would make perfect polpette and would make a great meal for a meatless day. Serving them with spaghetti, as you did, would certainly make my vegetarian friends happy and I doubt if the carnivores would mind, not when they’re this flavorful. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Thank you John, I would love to take credit for this recipe but it is an Italian creation done my way with scope for others to make it theirs. The Greek for melanzane is melitzána so I was immediately endeared to it.
What a nice recipe … I bet the balls would be lovely layered between pasta sheets with a tomato or pesto sauce lasagna style!
Thank you – your idea of lasagna got me thinking, I think they would also be good in cannelloni as the mixture would lend itself to being rolled into a sausage shape.
I actually might try something different next time.
I have never heard of your dish but I know that I would love the polpette…they sound delicious.
Thank you Karen. Give them a try they are delicious!
I can’t walk past a bargain either! I just have to be careful not to buy things that I won’t eat, otherwise it isn’t a bargain. I must confess though that I can’t shop without a list! Your aubergine balls look amazing.
Thank you. Working out what to buy and not wasting is the real skill in shopping. I still have yet to master it, but working on it.
I’m glad there are others who shop on impulse too when bargains present themselves, then there’s the added piquancy of deciding exactly what to do with them – oh, those exciting possibilities!
Delicious and inventive and utterly tasty I’m sure. I’ve recently been introducing eggplant in the guise of smokey dips at home and my sweetheart loves it. I think a little crumb & pecorino is such a useful way to use the plentiful ingredients you had on hand. Which makes them doubly delicious in my book!
They are a brilliant way to may aubergines go a long way. Plus you get the bonus of making a sauce that suits you.