I’ve been craving veggie burgers and I’m always looking for new creative ways of making them.  So, I looked to the fridge and found an eggplant. . . I said, “Why not?”

So here’s what I did:

Eggplant Burgers

Makes about 5 burgers

What you’ll need:

1 eggplant, diced into 1 inch cubes

5 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 large or 2 medium tomatoes, de-seeded and diced

about 5 fresh basil leaves, chopped

a small handful of fresh parsley, chopped

2 Tbsp. flour (whole wheat if you’ve got it)

1/4-1/2 cup bread crumbs

What you’ll do:

In a medium frying pan on medium low heat, drizzle a couple tablespoons of olive oil over the cubed eggplant and sprinkle with some salt.  Toss to coat.  Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring often.  Cook until you can smash the eggplant easily with the back of a fork.  Mash and add garlic.  Cook for an additional minute and remove from heat.  Let cool.

In a large bowl, pour in the mostly cooled eggplant and all the other ingredients.  Start with the 1/4 cup bread crumbs and add more as you need it.  The burger should be moist, but not too sticky.

To form the patties, my favorite way is to use plastic wrap and a small tupperware.  Find a tupperware that’s bottom is about the right round size for the burger.  Lay a sheet of plastic wrap over it letting the edges hang out the sides.  Place some burger in the tupperware and press into shape with a rubber scrapper.  Using the plastic hanging over the edges as handles, lift the burger out of the mold and wrap with the rest of the plastic wrap.

Place in the freezer and continue with the rest of the burgers.

Let the burgers rest in the freezer for about 30 minutes to a week. (this is a fabulous make ahead meal)

To cook, place a little olive oil in a frying pan and place unwrapped burger on top.  Cook for 5-7 minutes on each side.  Try not to flip too many times.  These burgers are on the fragile side.

Serve with some caramelized onions or fresh tomato or a pesto aioli.