Cashew

Extra-savory eggplant burger

by:
October  4, 2022
0
0 Ratings
Extra-savory eggplant burger
Photo by Lieke Sniekers
  • Serves 2
Author Notes

When I created this vegetarian/vegan burger, I focused on two important aspects: texture and umami flavor. Vegetarian burgers often lack both. I like to think I succeeded in resolving these issues. Lack of great texture is often caused because the water content of vegetarian ingredients (like vegetables) is too high, which will make your burger mushy, so I decided to roast all of the main ingredients to dry them out a bit. The result is a vegetarian burger which has a lot of bite.
Secondly, I wanted my eggplant burger to be able to compete with beef burgers in terms of umami flavor, so I added both soy sauce (or tamari, if you're gluten free) and chopped kalamata olives to the mix to make them extra-savory.
The result: the best vegetarian or vegan burger I've ever tasted! —Lieke Sniekers

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 35 grams raw cashews
  • 130 grams cooked chickpeas, drained
  • 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon cumin or ras el hanout
  • 2 small eggplants, cubed (no need to peel, the skin adds to the texture)
  • 8 kalamata olives, finely chopped
  • 1/2 egg, beaten* (see last step for a vegan option)
  • 1/2 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 4 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
  • 2 burger buns of your choice, split
  • toppings of your choice, such as tomato slices, romaine lettuce, piccalilly, mayonnaise, red onion, harissa, pickles
Directions
  1. Sprinkle the eggplant cubes with 2 teaspoons of kosher salt and leave to drain in a colander for an hour.
  2. Heat the oven to 180º C / 355° F . Distribute the cashews over a baking sheet and roast until golden, roughly 10 minutes. Set aside to cool. Pulse them in a food processor until they are ground into a fine meal.
  3. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 220º C / 430° F. Dry chickpeas carefully with a tea towel and toss with ½ tablespoon of the olive oil and cumin. Spread on a baking sheet and roast them in the oven until crisp, 8 to 15 minutes. Leave to cool. Pulse the chickpeas in the food processor until they are ground into a course meal. Add to the ground cashews.
  4. Carefully rinse the eggplant. Wring out in the eggplant cubes as much as you can, using your hands or a clean kitchen towel. Heat the oven to 200º C / 390° F. Spread the eggplant on a large baking sheet and roast for about 25 minutes until browned and dry.
  5. Mash the eggplant. Add to the cashew and chickpea meal together with the remaining ingredients. Divide mixture into two balls and shape into patties. Wrap carefully in plastic and leave to rest in the fridge for at least an hour.
  6. Heat the remaining table spoon of oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add patties to the pan and cook for 3 minutes on both sides until golden. Place on the burger buns and add any toppings of choice.
  7. *to make a vegan burger, combine 1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal with 3 tablespoons of water and leave for at least 30 minutes until it starts to gel. Use instead of the egg.
Tags:
Contest Entries

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • LeBec Fin
    LeBec Fin
  • Lieke Sniekers
    Lieke Sniekers

Popular on Food52

2 Reviews

LeBec F.
LeBec F. February 19, 2016
wow, you have done SUCH a good job with this. I love all the elements of roasting, and the varied textures. When I make it, I will prob start by following your eggplant cubing and roasting, but I wanted to offer another eggplant technique you might want to try as well. It would add a rich smokiness to the dish!:
--turn your eggplant directly over a flame until blackened all over.
Place on sheet pan, bake at 400 degrees F til it deflates when you push it down. Remove pan from oven, let eggplant cool 5 minutes. Slit the outside once from top to bottom. Scrape out flesh, chop, and mix with your other ingredients. (Add chopped skin if you want.)
So few people do interesting things with eggplant- and you are super for this tantalizing dish!
 
Lieke S.
Lieke S. February 20, 2016
Thank you! And that's a really good suggestion, I'm definitely gonna try that! A little bit of smoke would be so good.