Polpette Di Melanzane

I really should just change the name of this blog to "Marika frying stuff" because pretty much everything I've written about so far is cooked by this healthy and non-fattening method. BUT, I guess now we all know the secret to my grandma's delicious recipes--just fry everything and it will taste amazing!!

Today I will share an amazing, amazing variation of Sunday pasta, but vegetarian friendly. Instead of meatballs, this dish has eggplant patties and slices of eggplant in the sauce. It's probably best made in the fall when eggplants are fresh and in season, however it was still pretty delicious when I made it last week with Nonna.


Pasta with Eggplant


Ingredients

4 medium/large eggplants
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese
1 clove minced garlic
1 tablespoon fresh parsley and/or basil
salt
2 eggs

There are two components to this recipe, the eggplant "dollars" and the eggplant patties. First: the eggplant patties (or polpetti di malenzane)

Quarter two eggplants and boil until tender (~1 hour), then drain in a colander and let cool.



Squeeze excess water out by putting the eggplant in cheese cloth.



Next, chop the eggplant very, very finely with a big knife. (note: you could potentially use a food processor to do this, but there was a lot of laughing when I suggested this strategy)



In a medium bowl, add the breadcrumbs and throw a little water in there from the sink. Add the chopped eggplant, salt, garlic, cheese, and 2 eggs and then mix by hand.



Add more breadcrumbs as needed to get the "right" consistency to be able to roll the dough into balls. Form into balls about the size of a golf ball, then pat down to make them into flatter patties.



Fry these babies in vegetable oil on low/medium heat until golden brown. You don't want to fry them to quickly or else the inside will not cook!



Serve on the side of a dish of pasta (tubular shape) with tomato sauce. To complete the dish, inside the sauce you should prepare eggplant "dollars," which I will explain below.

For these, cut up the remaining two eggplant into round "silver dollar" shapes. They should be 1/4 inch thick--cutting them any thinner will mean they will disintegrate during the cooking process. Next, cover them with a TON of salt (seriously, lots) and set aside in a bowl for 1-3 hours (ideally, overnight). It helps to put a dish upside-down over the bowl and something heavy on top of the dish to weigh down on the eggplants. This will cause the eggplants to leak out a ton of water, which is what you need. After they have de-juiced, rinse them to remove salt and squeeze out.



Now, all that's left to do it fry 'em up! YEAH! Fry in vegetable oil until golden, but not too brown.



Add them to the tomato sauce a few minutes before mixing it with the pasta.

Here's the result: Eggplant patties and fried eggplant to make a delicious Sunday sauce! My mouth is watering............



Here are the old folks, who wanted to pose with the finished product.