Eggplant Rolletini

One last eggplant recipe!  We love eggplant parmesan but rolletini is the favorite.  Not as healthy of course, but so, so good!

1-2 medium eggplant
3 eggs (well beaten in large bowl)
2-3 cups of flour OR breadcrumbs
canola oil (for pan frying)
your favorite tomato sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
8 oz. ricotta cheese
1/4 cup chopped parsley, fresh or dried
black pepper to taste
1/2 cup parmesan or romano cheese, shredded or grated

1. Peel the eggplant and slice very thin, lengthwise.  (the thinner the better!)
2. Bread the eggplant slices.  If using flour: first coat in flour, then dip completely in egg, and then dredge again in flour.  If using breadcrumbs:  dip first in egg, then in breadcrumbs.  [I believe that flour is healthier because the breadcrumbs soak up a lot of oil while frying; both are delicious!]
3. Heat the canola oil in large skillet on fairly high heat.  There should be enough oil to completely cover the skillet and it should be about 1/4" deep.
4. Fry each eggplant slice in the oil until lightly browned.  As you take them out to put in the next batch, blot them on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
5. Make the cheese filling by combining the ricotta cheese, parsley, black pepper, and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.  This is a basic filling and you can vary the amounts to taste as you wish.
6. In a 9"x11" baking dish, lightly coat the bottom with tomato sauce.  Take one slice of eggplant, add a spoonful of filling and fold the slice over.  Continue with the rest of the slices.  Once they are all filled, spoon tomato sauce on each one, then sprinkle with the mozzarella and remaining parmesan cheese. 
7. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F until heated through and cheese is melted, about 30 minutes.  Bake for the first 20 minutes with aluminum foil to prevent the cheese from getting overdone.  If you are freezing for future use, you don't need to bake it now - just tightly cover and freeze.  You can bake it later thawed out or frozen (just allow longer baking time if frozen, of course).

Enjoy!

Eggplant Parmesan

Wow - we finally got our first eggplant!  My husband and I have been craving eggplant but they got off to a very slow start this year.  We finally got a span of hot, dry weather and the plants are thriving.  Last year was incredible - we were completely overrun and I had trouble keeping up with them.

Many people don't know what to do with eggplant, so here is my basic Eggplant Parmesan recipe:

1 medium eggplant
3 eggs (well beaten in large bowl)
2-3 cups of flour
canola oil (for pan frying)
your favorite tomato sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup parmesan or romano cheese, shredded or grated

1. Peel the eggplant and slice very thin.  Usually I slice in "rounds", but today I sliced lengthwise instead.
2. Bread the eggplant slices by coating first in flour, then dip completely in egg, and then dredge again in flour.
3. Heat the canola oil in large skillet on fairly high heat.  There should be enough oil to completely cover the skillet and it should be about 1/4" deep.
4. Fry each eggplant slice in the oil until lightly browned.  As you take them out to put in the next batch, blot them on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
5. In a 9"x11" baking dish, lightly coat the bottom with tomato sauce.  Add the eggplant slices to cover the bottom of the dish (only one layer).  Spoon tomato sauce on each one, then sprinkle with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese.  Add another layer and repeat until all the eggplant is used.  
6. Variation to Step 5:  if you used lengthwise slices (instead of rounds), this is a fancier way to do it:  starting from one end of the dish, take one eggplant slice and gently fold in half.  Add some tomato sauce inside with a bit of mozzarella cheese, then do the same on the outside.  Take the next piece and do the same: fold it in half and layer against the first piece, adding tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese inside the fold and then again on top.  Repeat with all of the slices (you will probably need two rows of eggplant in the dish).  Sprinkle the whole thing with parmesan cheese.
7. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F until heated through and cheese is melted, about 30 minutes.  Bake for the first 20 minutes with aluminum foil to prevent the cheese from getting overdone.  If you are freezing for future use, you don't need to bake it now - just tightly cover and freeze.  You can bake it later thawed out or frozen (just allow longer baking time if frozen, of course).

Enjoy!