This is one of my favorite ways to cook eggplant, if not my absolute favorite. It is for sure my hubs favorite way that I make eggplant. Here is actually sort of a mash up of two classic dishes. I love eggplant rollatini which is a classic Italian dish with eggplant that is rolled up with ricotta and has marinara sauce and topped with mozzarella cheese. Then there is stuffed eggplant which is eggplant stuffed with ground beef and marinara and sometimes eggs and then topped with cheese and baked. My mother in law bakes it on top of potatoes, which I absolutely love! It makes the most amazing potatoes. This is a mash up of those two incredible dishes.
Stuffed Eggplant Rollatini
I created this dish to make my own way of making stuffed eggplant that highlights the eggplant and gives you an ooey gooey melty cheese top with classic marinara. You can find the recipe for my marinara sauce here on the blog. It is my go to recipe that I use for anything that needs marinara. It is perfect in this dish!
https://happychefmama.com/2019/01/30/marinara-sauce/
Chef’s Tip-Â If you have a mandolin, use that to slice the eggplant. It will keep them even and nice and thin. Salt the eggplant before you quick roast it and that will make a huge difference in the final product. Anytime a recipe says cover and cook and it has cheese on top, I always cover it with plastic wrap and then foil on top of the plastic. This is something I actually learned in professional kitchens, but it is something I definitely always do at home as well. It helps lock in the steam into the dish, which melts the cheese more evenly and it also make the cheese not stick to the top. You know when you cover with foil and half your cheese comes off with the foil!! Ugh! This will never happen again if you use this tip! ENJOY!!
Stuffed Eggplant Rollatini
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant sliced thin lengthwise, should get 12-15 slices
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 1/2 cups tomato puree I like the one in the glass jar
- 1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs a course breadcrumb works well, or panko if you pulse it down a bit
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup grated or shredded Asiago cheese (optional)
- 1 cup homemade marinara sauce recipe on the blog
- Kosher salt and Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- Olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice the eggplant thin, lengthwise. If you have a mandolin, that will work great for this. If not, than just slice it as think as you can.
- Lightly oil a baking sheet. Season the eggplant with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Lay on the sheet pan and season the other side. Drizzle with olive oil on the top and do a quick roast of the eggplant. It will only take about 8-10 minutes. You are just looking to start cooking it. It will help make it pliable to roll as well as give you a little roast on it.
- When you pull the eggplant out of the oven, knock the temp down to 375 degrees.
- Meanwhile, while the eggplant roasts, make the filling. Brown the ground beef, season with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper and drain off any excess grease. Lower the heat to low and add in the tomato puree and cook for about 4-5 minutes or until the tomato bite cooks out of the beef. Season with salt and pepper if needed. Remove from the heat and let cool for about 5-10 minutes.
- Add in the breadcrumbs and the Parmesan cheese. Check the seasoning and let it cool until it is about room temp. About another 5-10 minutes. This can be while the eggplant cools to where you can handle it.
- In a baking dish or pie pan,(i usually use a pie pan or tin for this, it works great. You can also use a baking dish). Ladle about 1/4-1/2 cup of the homemade marinara into the bottom of the pan. Spread it our evenly. Start rolling the eggplant and laying them into the pan.
- Take the eggplant and lay 2 heaping teaspoons or more if your slices are bigger of the filling into the top 1/3 of the piece of eggplant. Take the top of the eggplant slice and pull it over the filling. Pull it tight, but don't rip it and roll over the filling. You want them to be really filled without it coming out of the ends.
- Lay the rolls into the baking pan either in a row if you are using a baking pan or in a circle if using a pie pan. Once you have all of your rolls done, spoon the rest of the marinara sauce over the rolls, I like to keep the ends of the rolls slightly exposed without sauce.
- Top with the mozzarella cheese and then top that with the Asiago. Cover with plastic and foil. Bake for 30-35 minutes and then uncover and bake for about 10-15 minutes until the cheese is bubbly. Served immediately with pasta or a side salad. ENJOY!!!
