Description
Eggplant Meatballs with Pomegranate Molasses are the vegetarian dinner you’ve been looking for! They’re easy to make and delicious with so many different sides, you’ll find yourself reaching for this recipe regularly.
Ingredients
Scale
For the eggplant meatballs
- 2 large eggplants, diced and peeled ( about 10 cups)
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced or grated
- 2 flax eggs ( 2 tbsp ground flax seeds combined with 5 tbsp of water) or two large eggs
- 2 cups Panko bread crumbs
- 1 cup chopped cilantro or parsley
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp sumac
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
For the pomegranate molasses sauce
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice
- 6 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 tsp salt
Optional Garnish
- Pomegranate seeds
- Chopped Cilantro or parsley
Instructions
- Steam the eggplant, covered, using a steaming basket, and stir the eggplant while it steams, so it cooks evenly. Cook 35 -40 minutes or until tender (see note #1)
- Once the eggplant is cooked make sure it drains well and set it aside (see note #2)
- While the eggplant cooks, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and garlic and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes or until soft and translucent
- In a large bowl, combine the eggplant, cooked onions and garlic, flax or regular eggs, Panko bread crumbs, cilantro or parsley, turmeric, sumac, salt, coriander, and pepper Mix well and mash with a fork until you get a uniform mixture with no lumps
- Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes or overnight, if making them ahead of time. (see note #3)
- Preheat the oven to 375F. Coat a baking dish with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- Working with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of mixture at a time, form even-sized meatballs (to make it easier we like to use an ice cream scoop). Arranged them in the greased baking dish, and bake them for 20 minutes
- While the meatballs cook, prepare the pomegranate sauce. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onions and cook for 7-10minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the pomegranate juice, pomegranate molasses, honey, and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until reduced in half, about 15-20 minutes
- After the meatballs have been baking for 20 minutes, add 3/4 of the pomegranate sauce and continue baking for an additional 20 minutes
- Serve with rice. couscous or quinoa. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and chopped parsley or cilantro before serving
- Add more pomegranate sauce, if needed or when re-heating leftovers.
Notes
- We boiled about 3" of water in a deep skillet, for which we had a lid. We placed a steam basket the boiling water and covered it with a lid.
- If the eggplant is too wet, squeeze the excess water out once it cools.
- Make sure not to skip this step, it will make it easier to form the meatballs.
- Prep Time: 20
- Refrigeration time: 20
- Cook Time: 1h 20min
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven roasting
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 meatballs with sauce
- Calories: 194
- Sugar: 16
- Sodium: 351
- Fat: 7.6
- Saturated Fat: 1
- Unsaturated Fat: 6.6
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 30
- Fiber: 4.4
- Protein: 3
- Cholesterol: 0