Eggplant Patties

One of my FAVORITE things to do with eggplant is to make eggplant patties. I've been doing this for a little over a year now and it's something easy to do instead of grilling it or making eggplant parm.

Even someone living alone can use this recipe because they can freeze the patties to use for a later time or just have lunch or dinner for the week. I served this for both mine and my husband's parents at Father's Day 2009 and everyone loved them!

Originally, I found a version of this recipe online somewhere...it was for someone using eggplant to make meatballs. I changed the recipe slightly and prefer to make patties with it.

Recipe:
INGREDIENTS

* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 3 cloves garlic, minced (I just buy minced garlic and use a few teaspoons - just use what you are comfortable with to taste)
* 4 cups cubed eggplant, with peel
* 1 tablespoon water
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (sometimes I use feta cheese instead!)
* 1 cup chopped fresh parsley <---- (i actually used parsley flakes I had in the house mixed with oregano and Italian Seasoning instead)
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 3/4 cup dried bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet.
2. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Pour in olive oil and saute garlic just until lightly browned. Mix in eggplant and water. Reduce heat to low and cover skillet. Allow eggplant to steam until soft, about 20 minutes. Place eggplant in a large bowl and allow to cool slightly.
3. Mix cheese, parsley, eggs, and bread crumbs into eggplant. Stir with a wooden spoon or your hands until ingredients are thoroughly combined and mixture can be pressed into patties. Add more bread crumbs as needed to make mixture workable. Refrigerate mixture (if needed) for 15 minutes, then form into patties.
4. Place eggplant patties on prepared baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes (you know your oven!) They should start to get a slight brown look.


We've tried all sorts of toppings to eat our burgers with. My husband's mom like mustard and cole slaw. I like russian dressing and cole slaw. The cole slaw adds an interesting element to the eggplant burger.
I recently tried using a raspberry walnut vinaigrette as a garnish. It wasn't gross but ehhh, I think that was a one time trial.

Try the recipe - they are great alone... or cut up into a salad...or as a burger.. and if you find a good topping for it, let me know!!