Go Back

Vegan Eggplant Meatballs with Za'atar & Kale Pesto

5 from 1 reader review
Servings 4
Print Recipe Pin On Pinterest Leave Review

Ingredients

Eggplant Meatballs

  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 medium eggplant small dice (about 3 cups diced eggplant)
  • sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
  • ½ cup cooked chickpeas
  • ¼ cup almond meal/flour
  • 1 tablespoon za'atar spice blend
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
  • 1/4 cup chopped flatleaf parsley
  • 1-2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • big squeeze of lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup chickpea canning liquid (aka chickpea brine/aquafaba)
  • 2 slices bread, toasted and roughly cut

Kale Pesto

  • ½ cup raw almonds
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 3 packed cups of chopped kale
  • big squeeze of lemon juice
  • salt + pepper
  • ⅓ cup olive oil (plus more, depending)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment. Drizzle a bit of olive oil directly onto the parchment and spread it around with your hands, lightly greasing the paper. Set prepared baking sheet aside.
  • Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add all of the diced eggplant and sauté until golden on all sides and pieces are noticeably soft, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, remove from the heat, and set aside.
  • In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the chickpeas, almond meal, za'atar garlic, parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, and chickpea canning liquid until you have a smooth paste. Add the sautéed eggplant to the food processor and flip machine to high until you have a lightly chunky paste. Add the roughly cut toasted bread to the the food processor and some salt and pepper, to taste. Flip the machine to high once more until you have a chunky and unified paste-like mixture.
  • Form the eggplant mixture into balls with roughly 2 tablespoons per ball. Gently roll them and then place them on the lightly greased baking sheet. Once you've rolled all of the mixture, slide the baking sheet into the oven and bake meatballs for 25-28 minutes, flipping them over halfway through the cooking time.
  • For the pesto, rinse out your food processor bowl + blade. Then, add the almonds, garlic, and lemon zest to the bowl. Pulse the mixture until the almonds are coarsely chopped. Add the kale, lemon juice, salt and pepper to the food processor. Flip the machine to high until everything in the bowl is finely chopped. With the motor running, slowly pour the oil into the food processor until you have a nice paste-like consistency. You may have to use more oil than I specified, depending on how tightly you packed the kale. Once you have a consistency you like, season the pesto to taste and store in a covered container with a thin layer of oil on top to preserve the colour.
  • Serve the warm vegan eggplant meatballs with dollops of the kale pesto, some roughly chopped parsley, sliced tomatoes, and lemon zest.

Equipment

Recipe Notes

  • For the bread slices, I just used 2 slices of frozen sprouted whole grain bread. I toasted them up and busted them into the food processor bowl with my hands. This mix held together really nice before I added the bread, so I feel confident that you could use 2 slices of a gluten-free loaf as well.
Vegan eggplant meatballs with za'atar and kale pesto are a delicious way to use up bumper crops of summer eggplant.