Oh my goodness I feel SO EXCITED to share this recipe because it is my original recipe and it’s just SO YUMMY ! It’s the perfect recipe to have as an entree or to bring to someone’s house because it is gluten free and vegan so everyone can eat it.
My mother in law loves it and my sister in law is gluten free so I usually bring this when we have family gatherings. This recipe is a little fiddly/ messy but don’t let that stop you from making it.
Here are the tips
I serve this with a red sauce to dip it into. Like a red base pasta sauce like sugo finto or Arrabiata. If you eat meat you could even dip it into a bolognese YUMMMM
You can make this with normal flour and normal bread crumbs if you wish. It’s the same measurements
This would be a perfect dish for meat free Mondays. You can use the eggplant balls to replace meatball’s and make a vegan Spaghetti + eggplant balls . YUM
This is going to make quite a few eggplant balls. I always make extra for lunch the next day. if you don’t want to make this much just halve the quantities of everything.
You can change the flavour by adding different herbs. I have used Italian
Here is what you need :
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 bunch of fresh basil or herbs of your choice
1 1/4 cup of GF flour . I used buckwheat. i love it’s nutty flavour
1 teaspoon stock . I use Vegeta from Coles or any super market
Salt and pepper
6 eggplants
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3-4 cups of gluten free breadcrumbs. I found some awesome ones at Coles
Oil to fry
This is how you make it :
Wash the eggplant and put them on a baking tray . You want to bake them on a tray with sides because the eggplants will lose some of their water and otherwise it will spill into your oven. Roast them until they are soft and cooked. Usually one hour on 180 degrees fan forced.
In the mean time you can get the rest of your ingredients ready. Add all the other ingredients except for the breadcrumbs into a a large bowl and give it a little mix.
Put the breadcrumbs in a seperate bowl.
Once the eggplants are cooked, cut off the stalk and peel the skin off the eggplant. You won’t need the skin. I know there are a lot of nutrients in it so if you want to use the skin then finely chop it. Otherwise it’s too tough and kinda messes with the texture. All you should have left is the eggplant flesh. Roughly chop this up and add it to the flour mix.
Mix all the ingredients together. If it is looking a little too wet add a few tablespoons of breadcrumbs or flour. You don’t want it to be too dry because then it won’t taste good but it has to be firm enough to roll into a ball.
These are going to be fried. So add enough oil into a large pot and wait for the oil to get really hot. Ok so here’s the fun part. Wet your hands and using a tablespoon to scoop a small golf ball size into your hand. Then add it to the breadcrumbs and coat it like you would with a meat ball. These are very delicate so be gentle. You want to shape the balls in your hand and gently squsih them so they form the right shape.
Fry them in the oil until they are golden. I add about 7 in my pot at once but don’t do too many at once. Rotate them once whilst they are frying.
Once golden brown, take them out of the oil and place them on a cooling rack with paper towel underneath to catch the drips.
These will be hot so be careful. Serve them with salad or anything you like really. I recommend with something to dip them into like aioli or a sauce. If you eat cheese then shave some parmesan on top!
I would love to know if you made these. If you have any questions please let me know.
Lots of love XOXOXOXOXOXO