Lunch ideas: Eggplant-Wrapped Veal Meatballs

Jo Bettoja’s cookbook—all about southern Italian cooking—was a revelation to me when it was given to me as a birthday present in 1992. Back then, most southern Italian cooking was quite a mystery in America. My sister and I had grown up making Italian standards our mother taught us, but even for immigrants from Italy, the focus of Italian-American cooking, especially in “Italian” restaurants, was the food of Naples: “red sauce” classics. Jo Bettoja’s cookbook was, for Americans, one of the first deep explorations of southern Italy’s other cuisines, including food from Campania and Sicily. It fascinated me. 

 

While today a number of excellent Italian restaurants in this country focus on a wider range of southern Italian cuisines, my long-ago birthday present was what first got me excited about a range of southern Italian cooking I had never previously known. Subsequent trips to Italy’s diverse regions have only deepened my appreciation for all that Italian cuisine can offer beyond the “classics.” When I think about southern Italy now, and especially Sicily, one of my stand-by, go-to recipes is this wonderful meatball preparation. 

 

This particular recipe is perfect for a light lunch with a salad. Nothing says Sicily like pine nuts and raisins!  The light taste of veal really allows the creamy texture of the fried-then-baked eggplant to shine. The secret to perfect meatballs is not to make them too lean—the breadcrumbs, milk, and other ingredients—pine nuts, raisins, Parmesan cheese—give them a consistency and flavor that makes you feel you have landed smack dab in the middle of Sicily!

 

This recipe makes about 30 meatballs.

 

• 1 or 2 small, narrow Italian eggplant

• Flour for dredging

• Grape seed oil (see below for amount)

• 1 lb. good-quality ground veal

• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs

• ½ cup milk

• 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

• 1 egg and 1 egg yolk

• 1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter

• ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish topping

• ¼ cup pine nuts

• ⅓ cup golden raisins, plumped in warm water

• 2 cups pureed tomato sauce

• Salt and pepper

 

• Mandolin slicer

• Wide, shallow baking dish

 

1. Trim the eggplant ends and edges away so you have a block about three inches wide.

2. Using a mandolin slicer, slice the eggplant into thin slices, approximately 1/4-inch thick. You will need one slice per meatball.

3. Season the dredging flour with salt and pepper, enough to coat all the eggplant slices.

4. In a medium skillet, heat grape seed oil about a ½-inch deep to just below the smoking point. 

5. Dredge the eggplant slices in the flour and briefly fry them in the oil until light golden brown. Remove to paper towels to drain. Avoid frying to crispy brown because you won’t be able to roll them around the meatballs.

6. In a large bowl, moisten the breadcrumbs with the milk. Add the veal, chopped parsley, eggs, butter, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, and plumped raisins. Season with ample salt and pepper. Mix all the ingredients gently with your hands to combine. Don’t over-mix.

7. Roll the veal mixture into meatballs about the size of a golf ball. Wrap each meatball in a piece of fried eggplant and place in a backing dish with the eggplant seam down.

8. Heat the oven to 350°.

9. Pour enough of the tomato sauce over the meatballs to just cover them.

10. Bake uncovered for about 50 minutes. Serve garnished with additional Parmesan cheese.