Hey everyone, we are going vegetarian today but you won't walk away hungry and you kids will eat eggplant and not even know it. Eggplants are in season so they are tasty and inexpensive. There is a tomato sauce with this dish. You can use your favorite store bought sauce, like Doris, or make your own. That is what I did. It's basically 4 cloves of thinly sliced garlic sauteed with some crush red pepper flakes for just a couple of minutes in some olive oil in a large pot then add in a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes. Let it come to a bubble then turn down the heat to a simmer. Season with some salt, pepper and a little sugar to taste. Last step is to put in about 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil. That is my basic sauce sometimes I use sauteed onions and oregano, just depends.
Cheesy Eggplant Rollups With Marinara Sauce
Serves 4
Here is what you need for the Roll-Ups:
2 medium eggplants
1 cup all-purpose flour
olive oil
12 ounces ricotta cheese
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 large egg
3 cups pasta sauce, store bought or make your own
4 ounces fresh shredded mozzarella
¼ cup fresh, chopped parsley
Kosher Sale and fresh ground pepper
crushed red pepper , fresh basil or parsley for garnish (optional)
Here is what you need to do:
Slice the skin off two opposite sides of the eggplant but I don't take the skin completely off You can if you want. Slice your eggplant lengthwise,about ¼ in thick.
Salt the eggplant on both sides and place on paper towels for about 20 minutes.This will release some of the moisture.While eggplants are draining preheat oven to 375. Pat eggplants dry. Note some people skip the salting the eggplants to drain out the extra water, it’s up to you.
Place the flour in a shallow dish.
Heat some oil (about 3 TBS) in a large skillet over medium heat. Season the flour with a little salt and some black pepper and combine well.Working in batches dredge the eggplant in the flour, shake off the excess and to the skillet. Cook until the slices are nice and golden brown on both sides. You want them soft enough to roll up but not mushy. When ready place on dry paper towels to drain. You can actually do this step a day in advance and just store in fridge until ready to use.
In a bowl combine ricotta, egg, parsley and ½ cup Parmesan. Lightly spray a baking dish with non-stick spray. Spread about a half a cup of your pasta sauce over the bottom of the dish.
Put about 2-3 TBS of the ricotta-Parmesan mixture on the wide end of an eggplant slice, then roll up the slice and place it seam side down in the baking dish.
Repeat with the rest of the eggplant slices.
Pour the remaining sauce over the top of the eggplant rolls. Combine the remaining Parmesan with the mozzarella and sprinkle the cheese over the dish.Bake for about 30 minutes.You can top with fresh torn basil or parsley and the crushed red peppers flakes. Let’s Eat