Eggplant and ham meatballs, with a Burgos cheese center and honey and pepper sauce

I have decided. These eggplant and ham meatballs with their honey and pepper yogurt sauce have just become the new trendy appetizer in my house, until we get sick of them: They turned out waaaay too goooood…

I was already familiar with “le polpette di melanzane,” very typical of southern Italy, but since eggplants go so well with ham (and it just so happened that I had half a package in the fridge that was dying of neglect), I thought they could keep each other company right inside the meatball. I decided on the surprise of the Burgos cheese following very personal tastes.

Someone else might have used a slightly stronger cheese, but it seemed to me that, since the ham and eggplant already had plenty of “power,” finding something milder in the middle would be more interesting. Don’t be lazy and leave things half-done.

Although they are also good without the sauce, it is worth preparing it, because it is made in 5 minutes and provides a sweetness and a spicy kick that make it go from a “good, so good, I’ll have another” appetizer to the star of the table, which disappears while the other appetizers next to it are still untouched.

Eggplant and ham meatballs, with a Burgos cheese heart and honey and pepper sauce

Autor: La ragazza col mattarello

Número de raciones: 15

Tiempo de preparación:  40 minutos

Tiempo de cocción:  5 minutos

Tiempo total:  45 minutos

Ingredientes

• For the meatballs:
• 400 g eggplant, (peeled and stems removed)
• 120 g Burgos cheese
• 100 g dry breadcrumbs (from day-old bread)
• 1 clove of garlic
• 60 g serrano ham
• 1 egg
• Half a teaspoon of grated fresh ginger
• 1 sprig of parsley
• 150 g breadcrumbs
• Salt
• Oil for frying (mild olive or sunflower)
• For the sauce:
• 1 Greek yogurt (125 g)
• 60 g canned sweet pepper
• 3 tablespoons honey
• A drizzle of cayenne-infused oil (chili pepper)

Instrucciones

1. For the meatballs:
2. Peel and dice the eggplants.
3. Boil them for 5 minutes in water that you have already salted, drain the eggplants, and let them finish losing liquid in the colander for 5 more minutes.
4. Chop the eggplants.
5. Chop a clove of garlic and a little parsley.
6. Chop the dry breadcrumbs.
7. Chop the ham.
8. Combine the eggplant paste, garlic, parsley, breadcrumbs, ham, grated parmesan, 1 of the eggs, and the half teaspoon of grated ginger.
9. Knead the ingredients and leave in the fridge for half an hour, covering the bowl with plastic wrap.
10. Cut the Burgos cheese into small cubes.
11. Take the meatball mixture out of the fridge and make balls, inside of which you must place a cube of Burgos cheese for each meatball. You will get about 15 meatballs.
12. Coat the meatballs with breadcrumbs.
13. Fry in plenty of oil and leave them on a plate that we have previously covered with a couple of sheets of paper towels, so that it absorbs the oil released by the meatballs once fried, before serving them.
14. For the sauce:
15. Chop the pepper.
16. Empty the yogurt into a bowl and add the chopped pepper, the 3 tablespoons of honey, and a drizzle of spicy oil.
17. Stir and it is ready to be taken to the table.

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