Stop press! I have found the answer to a question that I’m sure has been vexing you, as it has me, for quite some time. The definitive answer to the age-old mystery of whether eggplants have balls is yes, yes they do.
And what balls they are! Crispy and golden without, creamy and studded with pinenuts within, eggplant balls ought to have a spot reserved for them in hors d’oeuvres heaven, if they haven’t already.
It’s enough to make you drool like Homer and say “hooooors doovers.” Of course I mean Homer of the Simpson variety though he of Odyssey fame would no doubt agree – and are you feeling up to an argument with him?
Didn’t think so. Don’t argue. Just make ‘em. You won’t regret it.
Anything else I can help you with? Clearly I can figure out pretty much anything.
Eggplant Balls
From Entertaining Vegetarians by Celia Brooks Brown
If you make them walnut sized, you’ll get about 20-24 balls.
1 eggplant (aubergine) weighing approximately 500 grams
2 tablespoons olive oil
55 grams (1/2 cup) lightly toasted pinenuts
20 kalamata olives, pitted and finely chopped
4 tablespoons fine breadcrumbs
6 tablespoons grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons of minced parsley
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 beaten egg
Preheat the oven to 230 celsius (450 fahrenheit).
Cut the eggplant in half lengthways and brush liberally with the oil. Roast until a fork can go through the inside as if going through soft butter, about half an hour.
Cool, peel and discard the skin and mince the flesh.
Mix all the ingredients in a medium bowl and leave to rest until you need it – at least 10 minutes but overnight is fine too – they are best served warm.
The oven should be at 200 celsius (400 fahrenheit).
Line a baking sheet with baking paper or a Silpat (failing that you can grease the hell out of it) and dollop bite-sized balls onto it.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden.
Eat some standing up before you serve them to anyone or they’ll all be gone.
Leave a comment, make my day!
Hmm, funnily this is a philosophical question I’ve never asked myself so thanks for answering it. Eggplants are one of my favourite vegetables and this is such a great recipe, exactly the kind of thing I love. Thanks for sharing, I’ll be in touch if I think of any other age old unsolved mysteries ;-)
Please do, I’m certain to have the answer ;P
daymn diggidy thems look good!
I can’t wait to be back in my land of ovens and decking!
“And we came to this land of plenty, and we came to this land of love, yeah we came to this land of decking, yeah we came to this land of ov, yeah we came to this land of ov…” That’s how that OMC song goes, right?
Thanks, always good to have new recipes with aubergine (being a Pom) I think I have one lurking around in the bottom of my fridge that would lend itself to this nicely!
Let it lurk no more! It must fulfil its glorious destiny!
I’m torn on this one. Maybe ya should have crushed up the pine nuts before the mixing, you know what i mean man? Otherwise I have flashbacks to those rare instances when me eats corn or some other insoluble fiber and the results come shining through on the other end of things…Smashing nonetheless…
I dunno that pinenuts are insoluble actually – stomach acid is quite strong after all…And do you not have teeth?
Touche!
I get so excited when I find recipes that I would have never come up with myself. I’m a big eggplant fan and love love love pine nuts, so I can only imagine loving this recipe. Sounds so goooood!
I know – eggplants are not in season but I don’t care – I must have them!
Very cool photography. There’s a world of difference between folks like you who have “professional” written all them, and folks like me who mail it in each week. And yet, instead of inspired, I find myself intimidated. So there’s another couple of sessions of therapy where I won’t have to struggle with something to talk about!
WRT pinenuts: what do John D. Rockefeller, Franz Kafka, and John Harvey Kellogg all have in common? They were all members of the 32-times club — folks who believed you should masticate, masticate, masticate your food before you sent it down to Mr Belly.
Wow…thanks – actually, we aren’t at all knowledgeable about photography – I just pinched my boyfriend’s dad’s REALLY flash (ok, well, flash to me) camera, zoom in as far as humanly possible and hope for the best, as well as follow a “only shoot in daylight” policy. Easy enough to say I know – I’m lucky to be home a lot during the day. I know the feeling though, that’s how I feel when I see sites like Tartelette and Canelle et Vanille.
Besides, what is great about your blog for me is the writing – I’d far rather read interesting (and gramatically correct and correctly spelt, yes, I know, I’m a fascist) writing with good enough pictures than food porn pictures with crap ass writing. I know lots of peeps are the other way but I am emphatically not. Also, you have that niche thing, with the health focus – I did try and think of a niche but I’ve always been a jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none, sob. Now *I’m* off to therapy, sniffle…
These look so yummy! I have gotten into a ratatouille rut with eggplant and forgotten that it might do some other things too! I’ll have to try these out. Thanks!
Baba ganoush is good too…more eggplant recipes anon! They seem beloved of many.
I came back to this post 3 times and wondered whether I should comment, since I seem to be the only one with a doity mind, and that’s a bit embarrassing. But oh well.
When you said eggplants have rude bits too, all I did was stare at the cross-sectional of the roasted eggplant, and think, ooh, yeah, those darker bits toward the bottoms *do* resemble balls with their shriveled look. What a discovery! Sasa has such perception!
Then I saw the recipe and was like, ohhhhhh. :P
You’re silly.
Your title made me laugh so much! I can’t wait to try this recipe out, thanks for posting!
Eggplant balls :D LOL. I didn’t even read your post to be honest. I’m still laughing at the eggplant’s rude bits. Cos i’m immature like that :D
This sounds so good. I am going to have to make it for my picky husband.
Silly question: you say to peel the eggplant and mince the flesh – do you use the skin of the eggplant, also? I can’t tell if the purple pieces in the picture are the olives or the eggplant skin… I adore eggplant and want to make these so badly, but I don’t want to mess it up so I keep procrastinating! Thanks for your great recipes! :-)
Hi Jessica, no silly questions – it DOES look like the purple bits are skin but they’re actually olives and I’ll make it clearer in the recipe – peel and discard the skin and only use the flesh. You can just sort of scrape it out actually because it should be really soft.
I get so excited when I find recipes that I would have never come up with myself. I’m a big eggplant fan and love love love pine nuts, so I can only imagine loving this recipe.
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