I made vegan aubergine (eggplant) meatballs for our dinner last night. The recipe was from #weareveganuary. They might not look like a work of art, but they were ruddy delicious and Joshua really enjoyed them too. (I served mine with spaghetti and a vegan tomato sauce made with blended up cashew nuts, chopped tomatoes, basil and a little chilli) I’m not vegan (I’ve been a pescatarian all my life and Joshua occasionally eats meat) but I’m definitely keen to reduce my consumption of animal products for ethical and environmental reasons and I’m always up for trying new ingredients and recipes. The recipe isn’t difficult, but it is a little fiddly at the end when you assemble and cook the meatballs - if possible make sure you have some time and attention to spend on it - nap time would be ideal. The ingredients are... 🍆an aubergine, chopped into small pieces 🌰an onion, finely chopped 🥄 a tablespoon of olives, chopped 🥄 a garlic clove, chopped or minced 🌿 a handful of fresh basil, chopped 🍋 the zest and juice of half a lemon 🌶 a chilli, finely chopped (optional) 🍞 one slice of bread, whizzed into breadcrumbs To make... ♨️cook the aubergine, onion, olives, garlic and chilli in a pan with a little oil over a medium heat until soft (approx 20mins) ♨️add the lemon zest and juice, basil and breadcrumbs and stir well ♨️blitz the mix in a food processor or blender briefly until well combined, but still quite chunky ♨️shape the mixture into balls with your hands and gently fry in a pan with a couple of tablespoons of oil until brown (this is the fiddly bit) Enjoy x
