Eggplant polpette

One summer evening, looking for a little different way of preparing eggplants, and looking through Jamie magazine, I saw this recipe that looked both simple and delicious and I new we'd like it.
We = me and my husband, huge eggplant lovers.
What I didn't expect is that my 2-year-old would become such a huge fan. He pushed away everything else off his plate, and ate three or four of these little balls.
If that's not enough of recommendation...

I know, summer is well behind us, and eggplants, although they're still available (and will be available all the year), are already out of season. But I know I will not resist and will buy them just the same again and again. Because we love this dish. It was the recipe I prepared more times than any other eggplant dish this summer.
I usually serve them as a main dish, with some salad as a side. But I think they would be also nice as an appetizer or finger food, maybe made smaller than usual.
Anyway, they don't need lots of words or description, they need to be tasted. If you love eggplants you'll love them for sure. And even if you don't, this recipe might change the story in favour of eggplants.
Go ahead... and enjoy the weekend!

Eggplant Polpette
(from Jamie magazine)

* 1 big eggplant
* 100 g fresh mozzarella
* 100 g (approx.) breadcrumbs
* 25 g pinenuts
* 25 g grated parmigiano cheese
* 1 egg
* a handful of basil leaves
* 1 clove of garlic
* salt

Wash and dry the eggplant.
Cut it into 1/2 cm thick slices and then cut each slice into cubes.
In a large skillet (large enough to contain all the eggplant cubes in one layer, otherwise, if using a smaller one, fry them one part at a time) warm up a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and stirfry the eggplant cubes until golden and soft.
Remove them from the skillet onto a large plate covered with kitchen paper to absorb excess oil. Let them cool a little.
Rougly chop the pinenuts (or leave them whole if you prefer), chop the mozzarella, grate the parmigano cheese, chop the basil leaves and finely chop the garlic.
Put the eggplant cubes in a mixing bowl, add the pinenuts, the mozzarella, the basil, the garlic, the egg, salt and half of the bread crumbs. Mix everything with your hands squeezing slightly to combine  well all the ingredients. If the mixture's still very soft and moist add gradually more breadcrumbs until you're able to shape it easily into little balls (polpette).
Place them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Drizzle with just a little oil and bake for 15 minutes, flipping them half way through.
Jamie suggests to serve them warm with a simple tomato and basil salsa.
Which I did. But I also served them with some tzatziki, just as good.

Polpette di melanzane
(da Jamie magazin)

* 1 melanzana grande
* 100 g di mozzarella
* 100 g di pangrattato
* 25 g di pinoli
* 25 g di parmigiano grattugiato
* 1 uovo
* una manciata di foglie di basilico
* 1 spicchio d'aglio
* sale

Lavate e asciugate la melanzana.
Tagliatela prima a fette spesse 1/2 cm e poi riducetele in cubetti.
In una padella molto larga (abbastanza larga da poter sistemare i cubetti di melanzane in uno strato unico, altrimenti friggete le melanzane in più volte) scaldate un paio di cucchiai di olio extra vergine d'oliva. Soffriggete i cubetti di melanzana mescolando continuamente finché diventino dorati e morbidi.
Scolateli e mettete in un piatto largo coperto da carta assorbente. Lasciate intiepidire.
Sminuzzate un po' i pinoli (oppure lasciateli interi), tagliate la mozzarella a pezzettini, grattugiate il parmigiano, tritate le foglie di basilico e sminuzzate l'aglio.
Mescolate tutto in una ciotola, aggiungete l'uovo leggermente sbattuto, un po' di sale e impastate tutto con le mani schiacciando un po'. Inizialmente aggiungete solo metà del pangrattato e poi se vedete che la massa è troppo umida e appiccicosa aggiungete gradualmente altro.
Formate delle palline e sistematele su una placca rivestita con la carta da forno.
Cuocete le polpette nel forno riscaldato a 180°C per circa 15 minuti, girandole a metà cottura.
Servitele calde.
Jamie suggerisce di servirle con una semplice salsa di pomodoro e basilico.
Io le ho servite sia con la salsa di pomodoro che con tzatziki.

Okruglice od patlidžana
(izvor: Jamie magazine)

* 1 veći patlidžan
* 100 g mozzarelle
* 100 g krušnih mrvica
* 25 g pinjola (ili oguljenih badema)
* 25 g naribanog parmezana
* 1 jaje
* manji svežnjić svježeg bosiljka
* 1 češanj bijelog luka
* sol

Patlidžan operite i posušite.
Narežite ga prvo na kolutove debljine 1/2 cm a zatim na kockice.
Zagrijte u širokoj tavi par žlica maslinovog ulja i popržite kockice patlidžana na srednje jakoj do jakoj vatri do zlatne boje, miješajući neprestano. Ako nemate dovoljno veliku tavu da sav patlidžan stane u jednom sloju u nju, popržite ih u više navrata.
Izvadite patlidžan na nekoliko slojeva upijajućeg papira da se ocijedi masnoća.
U električnoj sjeckalici usitnite grubo pinjole (a možete ih ostaviti i cijele, jer pinjoli su mekani i ne smeta ako su cijeli), a zatim mozzarellu  nasjeckajte na komadiće nožem, naribajte parmezan, nasjeckajte sitno bosiljak, i usitnite bijeli luk ili ga protisnite kroz tijestak.
Pomiješajte sve sastojke u zdjeli. Dodajte razmućeno jaje, malo soli i sve izmijesite rukama da se poveže. Na početku dodajte samo polovicu krušnih mrvica, a poslije po potrebi još ako vidite da je smjesa premekana i ljepljiva da biste oblikovali polpette (ako stavite previše mrvice bit će suhe nakon pečenja).
Uzimajte otprilike jednu žlicu smjese i oblikujte kuglice.
Stavite ih na pleh, i polijte sa sasvim malo ulja (kapnite malo tu i tamo).
Zagrijte pećnicu na 180°C i pecite okruglice 15 minuta, okrenite ih na polovici pečenja da se ravnomjerno ispeku s obje strane.
Poslužite ih tople.

Ja sam ih poslužila uz tzatziki i salatu od rajčica, uz pita kruh i uz focacciu.
Također sam ih po Jamiejevom savjetu poslužila uz umak od rajčica s bosiljkom.
Meni su ove okruglice dosta zasitne i poslužila sam ih kao glavno jelo. A možete ih napraviti i manje i poslužiti kao toplo predjelo ili finger food