Lamb Meatballs with Silky Eggplant

These were the third course of my Autumn's Bounty collaborative Happy Hour with Anni of The Quail & Olive and Lenora of Big Sur Vineyards, I neglected to take any photos of the dishes as they were plated and served. Darn it!

Meatballs

makes approximately 18 meatballs

• 1-1/2 pounds ground lamb

• ½ cup bread crumbs

• 3 Tablespoons milk or cream

• 1 egg

• 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar (I used the 25 Star Balsamic from The Quail & Olive)

• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic

• Roasted Garlic Olive Oil (at The Quail & Olive)

• ground sumac for sprinkling

• Also needed: baking sheet, parchment paper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Use a wooden spoon or clean hands to blend ingredients until well-combined. Roll walnut-sized meatballs and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with a little bit more olive oil and sprinkle with sumac.

Bake meatballs at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes or until done. They should be firm to the touch when they are done. If you aren’t sure, you can slice open one of the meatballs. They should not be pink in the center at all.

Silky Eggplant

Several years ago, I hosted an eggplant dinner for two friends' birthday celebration; I called it 'Ode to an Aubergine.'

Little back story: one of our friends claimed to not like eggplant. I took the challenge to come up with an entire dinner menu made with eggplant...from Eggplant Boats to Creamy Eggplant Soup and Braised Lamb Over Eggplant Puree to dessert. Yes! Even dessert. I made an Italian dessert - Melanzane al Cioccolato - with eggplant and chocolate. And, of course, I ordered eggplant hats for everyone.

The dinner was a wild success and the eggplant-averse friend declared, to my delight, Okay, I like eggplant now! Most of the dishes started with this silky eggplant purée.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Roll the eggplant in olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

Cover your pan with aluminum foil and roast in the oven until the eggplant is completely soft - usually between 1-1/2 hours and 2 hours. Undercooked eggplant, to me, tastes like chalk. Yuck!

Once your eggplant is cooked and cooled, slice them open, then scrape the meat from the skin.

Eggplant Dip

2 cups roasted eggplant

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon ground sumac

1 to 2 Tablespoons Roasted Garlic Olive Oil (at The Quail & Olive)

2 teaspoons Champagne Mimosa Vinegar (at The Quail & Olive)

Place all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Pulse until desired consistency.

To Serve

• eggplant dip

• lamb meatballs

• cranberry compote (you can see my recipe)

• Roasted Garlic Olive Oil (at The Quail & Olive) for drizzling

• 25 Star Balsamic from The Quail & Olive) for drizzling

• ground sumac

Roll the cooked meatballs in some cranberry compote mixed with water to thin it out. Spoon eggplant dip onto an individual serving plate. Top the dip with a meatball. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar. Sprinkle with sumac.

I served this with roasted potatoes, peppers, and onions. And we paired it with the 2024 Big Sur Vineyards Grenache. The wine pours a regal aubergine color. On the nose, I jotted down ripe red fruits such as raspberries and currants. On the palate, those red fruits are bright with silky tannins. It was light enough to serve with seafood, but complex enough to match garlic and sumac of the dish.