I met Letizia in a photography workshop. She was a nice, carefree woman with a hilarious sense of humor and a lively intelligence. She loved traveling, taking pictures, and smoking. I still remember with a poignant melancholy the aperitifs and afternoons full of laughter.
Eggplant meatballs are a typical Calabrian dish, a region where Letizia was born and raised, and her family recipe has been tried several times for summer dinners with friends.
Besides, meatballs are like cherries … one leads to another!

Letizia eggplant meatballs

  • Preparation time: 30 minutes
  • Ingredients for 4-6 servings
  • Difficulty: Average difficulty recipe

  • Ingredients
  • 1 lb 5 oz or 600 gr of eggplant, peeled
  • 1 egg
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 3 tablespoons of breadcrumbs
  • 4 tablespoons of grated pecorino Romano cheese
  • 1 large handful of basil leaves
  • 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Breadcrumbs to taste
  • Peanut oil for frying to taste
  1. Instructions
  2. Cut the eggplant. Blanch the peeled eggplant in salted water for five minutes; let it cool, squeeze well to eliminate the cooking water, and then chop finely with a knife.
  3. Put the eggplant in a bowl, add an egg, the chopped garlic clove, the extra virgin olive oil, the breadcrumbs, the grated pecorino Romano, and the chopped basil. Add salt and pepper.
  4. Combine the mixture well and form many small round balls. Sprinkle with more breadcrumbs.
    Add the oil to a large skillet and bring it up to temperature. Dip some meatballs in the oil and fry them until golden brown.
  5. Drain on absorbent paper towel. Salt, if necessary, and serve.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • This recipe is perfect for summer. Eggplants, in fact, if they are not in season, have too many seeds inside.
  • To make the balls all the same size, I scoop up the mixture with a spoon. For medium-sized meatballs, the whole mixture is used, and for aperitif balls, as in the picture, take the mixture of half a spoon.
  • If you want even more delicious meatballs, you can put inside each ball a small piece of caciocavallo cheese.
  • Always use a thermometer to measure the oil temperature. It is an inexpensive tool, but it is extremely useful in preventing the smoke point from overflowing.