Eggplant Rolatini

When my dear friend from college Sarah Smith came to visit me in Connecticut all the way from Virginia this past summer, I decided to make an eggplant rollatini from scratch. Sarah Smith, Amanda Mckinney (another close college friend) and I had a great girls night, laughing and reminiscing of times past. When it came time for dinner, our tastebuds were in for a shock... it was amazing!

This rollatini recipe is really fabulous and is mine to share. :)

First, you start off by cutting the skin off the eggplant and slicing it into long, thin slices.

It is important to then dry out the eggplant over night. Eggplant is a wet veggie and can get soggy if not dried out first. Fold two pieces of paper towels in a pasta strainer and put in one layer of eggplant. Then fold two pieces of paper towels over that layer and repeat until you have a tower of paper towels and thinly sliced eggplant.

The next day, put some eggs in a bowl (about 6 eggs per eggplant), some flour in another bowl, and some bread crumbs in a different bowl.

Dip the eggplant in the eggs, then the flour. Then dip the eggplant back in the eggs and finally in the bread crumbs. Do this process for each piece of eggplant. This can get messy, so have a supply of paper towels ready!

The next step is to throw the eggplant in a skillet on medium/high with some olive oil. I like to cut up some fresh garlic and put that in the olive oil first to give it even more flavor.

While you are doing this, fill a glass pan with some sauce of your choice (I will do one of these on how to make your own sauce) and add tons of parsley and layer with fresh basil.

Once the eggplant is a nice golden brown color, put it on a plate and take a spoon full of ricotta and place it in the middle of the eggplant.

Roll up the eggplant so the ricotta makes a nice filling and put it in the pan.

Top the eggplant rollatinis with some fresh mozzarella and fresh basil. Bake on 350 for about an hour or until the mozzarella is nice and melted.

You can also fill the rollatini with some fresh spinach as well. It adds a nice flavor. The dish tastes excellent with a side of asparagus.

This rollatini makes for an impressive looking and tasty meal!

Enjoy,
Gracie