Italian Eggplant Rollatini Recipe

This Italian Eggplant Rollatini Recipe is a Vegetarian's Comfort food dream! Crispy breaded slices of eggplant are rolled around a ricotta cheese blend and topped with zesty marinara sauce.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword eggplant,ricotta cheese,marinara sauce

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 30

Servings Rollatini

Calories 102kcal

Author Nicole Crocker

Ingredients

For the Eggplant Rollatini

2 medium Eggplant .about 2 1/2 pounds total
1 1/2 Cups Seasoned Breadcrumbs
1/2 Cup Shredded parmesan cheese
5 Large Eggs ,seperated
1 Cup Flour
1 ,15 ounce container Ricotta Cheese,
1 ,15 ounce container Cottage Cheese
2 Cups Shredded mozzarella cheese ,seperated
20 Leaves Fresh Basil ,chiffonade
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 Cup Olive oil ,to sautee eggplant

For the Marinara Sauce

1 Small Onion ,chopped
2 Cloves Garlic ,minced
1 Large Carrot ,chopped
2 ,32 ounce cans Ground peeled tomatoes
1 teaspoon Dried basil
1/4 teaspoon Red pepper flakes ,optional
2-3 Tablespoons Olive oil ,to sautee with
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

For the Marinara Sauce

In a large deep pot heat 1 Tablespoon of Olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, and carrot and sautee for 5-7 minutes until onions are translucent. Add garlic and sautee for one minute.
Add ground peeled tomatoes, dried basil and red pepper flakes. Once it begins to bubble reduce heat and cook for at least one hour.
Pour sauce into a blender or food processor and blend on high for 1-2 minutes. Pour back into pot and keep on low heat.

For the Eggplant Rollatini

Prepare Eggplant by removing skin and slicing length wise into 1/4 inch strips.
Add salt and pepper to both sides of eggplant strips.
Place flour in a shallow dish or plate
Mix bread crumbs and parmesan cheese together and place in shallow dish or plate.
Crack 3 of your eggs in a shallow bowl and scramble.
Dip one slice of eggplant first in the flour and coat both sides then dip in egg mixture and finally breadcrumb mixture. Repeat with all slices.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet at a time on medium high heat. Place about 3-4 eggplant slices in the skillet at a time. (depending on skillet size and how many you can fit without overcrowding.) Cook for 2-3 minutes per side and remove to a dish lined with a paper towel.
Continue until all eggplant are cooked. Set aside.
In a large bowl beat eggs until lightly scrambled.Mix in ricotta cheese, cottage cheese and mozzarella.
Gently fold in basil.
Prepare a large casserole (about 13 x 9 inch) dish with about 1-2 cups of marinara sauce spread in the bottom.
To make rollatini, add 1-2 Tablespoons of ricotta cheese mixture to the center of eggplant and roll it up to enclose the mixture. Place seam side down in a casserole dish.
Continue to fill all of the eggplant and place side by side to fill casserole.
Top with more marinara sauce. Then sprinkle with about 1 cup of mozzarella and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese.
At this point you can either place casserole in the fridge or bake right away. It will stay fresh in the fridge cover with plastic wrap for 2-3 days.
When ready to bake preheat oven to 375 Degrees F.
Bake Rollatini for 15-20 minutes. If its coming out of the fridge it may need a bit longer.

Notes

*Large eggplant tend to have a more seedy inside. I try to avoid using overly large eggplant for this recipe. I ended up using small eggplant for my recipe this time so I ended with smaller sized rollatini. If you use medium eggplant your rollatini will be slightly longer. That's usually what I prefer but sometimes you just get what they have at the market.

*I prefer the skin removed but it's not necessary. This recipe can be made with the skin on.

*I like to heat up extra sauce and add to cooked rollatini or serve on pasta as a side dish. Any left over marinara can be stored for future use in the fridge or frozen.

*If you prefer just to use ricotta cheese in this recipe just double the amount of ricotta added and eliminate the cottage cheese.

*The amount of rollatini that you end up with will vary depending on the size of your eggplants. Also I don't use the entire eggplant. The first couple of slices may be too small to use. You can use the waste for another use so don't feel like you need to throw them out. Just wrap the excess in plastic wrap and place in fridge until you are ready to use them.

*It's difficult to gage exactly how many rollatini you will end up with. Keep an extra smaller casserole dish on hand for any extra.

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