Eggplant Rolls

Posted by whilehewasout on September 4, 2012 · 10 Comments 

I was wandering across Pinterest when I found this picture (or rather, ‘pin’) that immediately captured my attention and decided the fate of that pretty eggplant I remembered I had at home. Don’t be taken aback by the seemingly fussy recipe, in reality it is not too complicated and does not take long to prepare. I had to modify the recipe to exclude cheese because of my Mr, however I can confirm, even this way it was a great success! I will surely have to try this with ricotta as well though (maybe next time, While He Is Out ;))

Eggplant Involtini

from Alexandra’s Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 eggplant
salt
olive oil for frying
tomato sauce
breadcrumbs
Stuffing

I had to go creative here as my Mr wouldn’t even look at something with so many types of cheese in it. Luckily I had some leftover ‘many delicacies rice’ from the other day, which is basically a fried rice with many goodies in it (mixed veggies, ham, egg, soy sauce, shredded coconut…) that becomes nice and sticky after a night in the fridge – thus perfect for a filling.

Preparation:

1. Trim the stem end of the eggplant. Cut the eggplant lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick slices. Sprinkle the eggplant slices on both sides with salt, layer them in a colander, and let stand for 1 hour. Press the moisture from the eggplant and blot them dry with paper towels. Pour some olive (or canola) oil in a pan and heat well. Put the eggplant slices in the pan and fry until the slices take on some color, 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 425ºF/220°C. Spoon tomato sauce into a medium-sized baking dish (or individual gratin dishes) till bottom of dish is covered in a thin layer. Place a spoonful of filling at one end of each of the eggplant slices. Roll the slice around the filling and place it seam-side down in the dish on top of the tomato sauce. Spoon a tablespoon of sauce over each roll to moisten and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake until the edges of sauce around the sides of the dish are dark and the rolls are nicely caramelized, 20 to 25 minutes.

Filed under Food, Recipes · Tagged with eggplant involtini, eggplant rolls, leftover fried rice, oven baked eggplant, rice stuffing