Baked Eggplant And Meatballs

Oh my lordy this was a good meal.  When I brought the dish out to my husband, his face lit up like Christmas day.  This meal involves a bit of prep, but it is everything we love about Italian food - meat balls, fresh sauce, tomatoes galore, roasted eggplant, cheeeeeeeese, and lots of oregano and basil.   I made this meal partially because, as Italians, WE MUST EAT THIS FOOD TO LIVE, and partially because I have tomatoes coming out of my ears over here. 

The Meat

- 1 pound ground beef

- 1 raw egg yolk

- 1 clove garlic, minced

- 1 tablespoon tomato, crushed

- 1 teaspoon onion, minced

- 1 teaspoon olive oil

- salt, pepper, marjoram, basil, oregano, paprika to taste

The Veggies

- 1/2 large eggplant, sliced and brushed in olive oil

- 2 tablespoons tomato, crushed

- salt, pepper, oregano to taste

- 1 large slicing tomato, chopped

- 1/2 cup fresh mozzarella dressed with oil and spices

- 1/2 head of broccoli

- 2 summer squashes, sliced

- 1 green onion, sliced

- shaved parmesan

- 1/3 cup water

- 1 teaspoon olive oil

- salt, pepper, basil, dill, marjoram to taste

The Sauce

- 2 large slicing tomatoes, crushed

- 1 tablespoon tomato puree

- 1/2 cup heavy cream

- pan drippings

- 1 teaspoon olive oil

- 1 clove garlic, minced

- 1 teaspoon lemon juice

- parmesan to taste

- salt, pepper, onion powder, basil, oregano to taste (be liberal!)

Preheat oven to 380 degrees.

Let's roll some meatballs!  Mix together all of the meat ingredients with your hands in a large metal mixing bowl.  Squish it for a few minutes to make sure everything is evenly mixed.  I turned my pound of ground beef into 9 meatballs, but you can make them a little smaller and have an even number if you prefer.  

Throw the sauce ingredients into a small simmer pot and let them cook together for the next hour. I brought the sauce up to a boil and then simmered for the rest of the time, stirring occasionally. 

In order to save space/dishwashing time, I put my meatballs and my eggplant in the same baking dish.  This only helps the flavors, because the eggplant gets infused with the pan drippings of the meat.  I put my meatballs on one side, and layered the other side with my spiced, sliced eggplant and crushed tomato.  I had 3 layers of eggplant and tomato on top of each other.  Into the oven the dish goes, and out it will come after 45 minutes. (If you are really into cheese, you can layer slices or shredded mozzarella in between the eggplant). 

After getting the meatballs and eggplant into the oven I put the rest of the veggies (but not the cheese) into my sauté pan with the water and oil.  I let them cook on medium heat for around 20 minutes and then added the parmesan and mozzarella cheeses a few minutes before serving, so they would be soft and gooey delicious when it was time to chow down.

The veggies went on the bottom of the plate with sauce and then the eggplant and meatballs went on top.  It's a large, satisfying, intensely tomatoey meal.  And we love it.

"Stuffed" Patties

There is something about cutting open a piece of meat and finding goodies mixed into it that is so rewarding.  I made "stuffed" beef patties tonight for dinner with goat cheese, pepper, and onion, on top of a bed of mixed veggies with a creamy yet tangy tomato sauce.  This meal satisfies the Italian in me without compromising my Primal diet.  

The Meat

- 1 pound of ground beef

- 1 green onion

- 1/2 a green bell pepper

- 1 3/4 ounces of herbed goat cheese

- 1 teaspoon of dill

- salt and pepper to taste

- red pepper (optional)

- 1 teaspoon of basil

- 1 teaspoon of oregano

The Veggies

- 8 stalks of asparagus

- 1 cup of spinach

- 1 golden beet, cubed

- 1 small purple potato, peeled and cubed

- 1 small yellow potato, peeled and cubed

- 1/4 cup yellow onion, sliced

- 1 teaspoon of bacon grease

- 1 teaspoon of olive oil

- 1 cup of water

The Sauce

- 1 1/2 tablespoons of sunflower oil or olive oil based mayonnaise

- 2 teaspoons tomato paste

- 1/4 cup chopped fresh red tomatoes

- 1 teaspoon of lemon juice

- 1/2 teaspoon of capers

- basil and oregano to taste


The Varnishes
- 1/2 teaspoon of Parmesan cheese

- 2 slices bacon, crisped and crumbled
- 1/2 yellow heirloom tomato, thickly sliced

First, I took all of the veggie ingredients except for the spinach and threw them into a 3" deep saute pan.  Add the water, cover, and cook on medium heat for around 20 minutes.  If you notice that your water is boiling away quicker than that, either lower your heat or add more water - up to you.  I added the spinach in the last 5 minutes so it stayed green and fresh looking, but still wilted the right amount.

While the veggies simmered, I mixed all my meat ingredients together in a medium sized bowl.  Ladies and gents, take of your rings and get ready to get squishy.  I broke the goat cheese up into reasonably sized chunks in order to make sure that the patties had a consistent amount of cheese - try to make sure that you don't have any huge chunks that can overwhelm your palate.  

I cooked the bacon on my flat skillet with the gas on high for around 5 minutes, turning them twice to get a medium crisp (not too much blackened crisp for us, but it's whatever you prefer) and then threw on my quarter-pound patties onto the bacon skillet to brown.  I turned my patties after around 4 minutes and cooked for another 4 minutes until the centers were light pink - we like our meat a little rare in the middle, so if you want yours medium or well done, add a minute or two to each side. 

I mixed the mayonnaise, tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, lemon juice, and capers with my seasonings in a small mixing bowl, and set it aside. I crumbled my bacon and mixed most of it into my veggies, which were just about done.  The rest I kept to sprinkle on top of my patties.  I sliced up 4 pieces of an heirloom tomato to layer on top of my patties, also.

To finish my plate I set the finished veggies onto the plate first, then spooned some of my sauce on top.  Next I placed the patties over the veggies, covering them with the slices of tomato and then putting some sauce, parmesan cheese, and bacon over the tops.  Be as generous as you like - the combination ends up being really addicting and you might want to lick your plate clean!