Italian | Eggplant Rollatini

Posted on August 11, 2012

This was tasty and easy to make. You can't see the eggplant, but it is in there! I copied the recipe as written, but cut it in half when I made it and used a smaller baking dish. I increased the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese a bit, and kept the pine nuts at 3 tablespoons. Also I didn't roll up the eggplant, mine were small and I thought they would be fine layered in. I think there is a lot of room to make this to your liking. The idea is just to grill the eggplant and layer it with the cheese mixture and then top with marinara. Typical Eggplant Parmesan dishes bread and fry the eggplant, so this is much lighter.

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

4 medium eggplants (about 4 pounds), cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling (or as needed)

3 tablespoons pine nuts

32 ounces whole-milk ricotta cheese

2 large eggs, beaten to blend

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

20 basil leaves, very thinly sliced

2 cups marinara sauce

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)

 

Method

Arrange the eggplant slices over a large baking sheet and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of salt, this will help extract the moisture from the eggplant. Set the eggplant aside for 15 minutes. Rinse the eggplant to remove the salt, and pat dry.

Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for medium heat, or preheat a ridged grill pan over a medium flame. Brush the eggplant slices with 1/2 cup of oil and grill until lightly browned and tender, about 4 minutes per side.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the pine nuts on a heavy baking sheet, and toast in the oven, stirring once, until the nuts are fragrant and light golden brown, about 5 minutes. (Mine only took 3 minutes.) Let cool. Maintain the oven temperature.

Lightly oil a 13x9x2-inch baking dish. In a large bowl, mix the ricotta cheese and eggs to blend. Gently stir in the mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, and toasted pine nuts. Fold in the basil just to combine, do not overmix. Place 1 tablespoon of the cheese mixture at one short end of each eggplant slice and roll up tightly. Place the eggplant rollatini seam side down in the prepared baking dish. The eggplant rollatini can be prepared up to this point 8 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Spoon the marinara sauce evenly over the eggplant rollatini and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake uncovered until the eggplant rollatini and heated through, about 15 minutes. Drizzle more oil over the eggplant rollatini and serve.

 

(Ref. "Eggplant Rollatini" recipe, Everyday Italian.)