Baked Eggplant Rollatini
This lightened up, feel-good version of eggplant rollatini is baked instead of breaded and fried, but still has that cheesy, tomato sauce-y eggplant rollatini flavor and meaty texture. This dish is surprisingly simple to make, but looks impressive and tastes even better!
Ingredients (yields ~3 servings):
1 large eggplant sliced thin (~1/4 inch thick) lengthwise — I used a mandolin to facilitate slicing!
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese or plant-based alternative (such as Kite Hill Foods almond milk ricotta)
2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp grated pecorino romano cheese
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 egg
Pinch of black pepper
Pinch of salt
Olive oil for baking the eggplant slices (I used a sprayer to coat the slices evenly)
Fresh basil, chopped
1 -1/2 cups of tomato sauce (I used Bonta Della Marinara)
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Cut off the eggplant stems, then slice lengthwise to ~1/4 inch thickness using a mandolin slicer or knife.
Spray or brush eggplant slices with olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Then lay the slices evenly on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake for ~20 minutes, flipping the slices over halfway through.
Remove slices from the oven and let cool.
In a medium-sized bowl, prepare the filling by mixing together the ricotta cheese, pecorino romano cheese, minced garlic, pepper and chopped basil. Set aside.
Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of a baking dish or casserole dish. Then, once the eggplant slices are cool, add ~1 tablespoon of the filling to one side of each eggplant slice and roll up.
Place each filled and rolled eggplant slice side-by-side in the baking dish and add a thin layer of tomato sauce on top. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese and bake for another 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.
