The silver dollar sized eggplant fritters or Polpette di Melanzane pictured above are, at times, referred to as eggplant meatballs or patties and are made with a few basic ingredients, including fresh breadcrumbs, roasted or boiled eggplant, and good grated cheese (viz., Parmigiano-Reggiano). Our mother Annunziata is an expert Eggplant Fritter maker which requires the ability to pan fry foods with keen precision (don’t worry after a few attempts you’ll be a master fryer, as well). Give this eggplant dish a try and serve them up as an appetizer (I promised your guests will be begging you for the recipe).
Eggplant Fritters (Polpette di Melanzane)
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
The best eggplant fritters on the planet.
Cook: Vince from Scordo
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
- 2 eggplant (any variety will do, but we favor the pink/purple variety "Sicilian" eggplant)
- 1 egg
- Parsley
- ½ cup of grated cheese (Parmigiano-Reggiano)
- 1 cup of unseasoned breadcrumbs
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Vegetable oil for pan frying
Process
- Cut the eggplant into 2 inch discs and brush with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and grill over medium to high heat until the eggplant pieces are soft. Let the grilled eggplant pieces cool and thereafter chop into rough pieces. Move the eggplant to your food processor and pulse a few times or until you have a very rough puree like consistency (do not over pulse).
- Move the processed eggplant to a large bowl and add chopped parsley, breadcrumb, and salt and pepper. In a small bowl, beat one large egg and thereafter add to the large bowl with the eggplant mixture. Stir well. Add grated cheese and stir again. Shape the fritters into the size of a silver dollar (use your hands)
- Heat a large pan with the vegetable oil of your choice (do not use extra virgin olive oil to fry, it's a waste of money and does not fry as well as a cheaper vegetable oil) and pan fry (or shallow fry) the eggplant fritter until golden brown
I make my Fritters this way also….LOVE THEM…Thanks…
I have just made this recipie…………delicious
Thank you for making the dish!
My family always rolled the ‘pattie’ in cornmeal and then fried them. Try that sometime.