Eggplant Rollatini

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Show: Everyday ItalianEpisode: Italian American Night

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (111)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(111)

Cook Time:
1 hr 45 min
Level:
Easy
Yield:
6 servings

Times:

Prep: 35 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: 1 hr 45 min
Total:: 2 hr 20 min

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Ingredients

3 medium-sized eggplants (about 4 pounds total)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Can vegetable spray
32 ounces ricotta cheese
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
8 tablespoons grated Parmesan
3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
20 basil leaves, chiffonaded
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
2 cups fresh tomato sauce, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat the grill pan and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place a rack over a large baking sheet. Cut the 2 ends off the eggplant. Cut the eggplants lengthwise, into 1/2-inch thick slices. Arrange eggplant slices onto rack. Sprinkle with sea salt to help remove excess moisture and any bitterness from the eggplants. Set aside for about 10 to 15 minutes. Rinse off the salt from the eggplants and pat dry with a towel. Spray hot grill pan liberally with vegetable spray and then place eggplant slices on the grill until lightly browned on each side and tender, about 4 minutes per side. Remove slices from the grill pan and allow to cool.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until lightly scrambled. Mix the ricotta in with the egg. Add mozzarella, 3 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese and toasted pine nuts and gently combine. Fold in basil just to combine. Do not overmix.

Place a tablespoon of the cheese mixture on 1 end of the eggplant and roll up tightly. Place the eggplant rollatini into a greased (with olive oil) 13 by 9-inch baking dish, seam side down. Continue with remaining eggplant. Evenly distribute the tomato sauce on top of the eggplant rollatini. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with remaining 5 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese and bake for 15 minutes. When cooked, drizzle the top with extra-virgin olive oil.

Simple Tomato Sauce
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
2 dried bay leaves
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, optional

In a large casserole pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and bay leaves and simmer uncovered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning. If sauce still tastes acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon at a time to round out the flavors.

Add 1/2 the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce.

If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and pour 1 to 2 cup portions into freezer plastic bags. This will freeze up to 6 months.

Yield: 6 cups

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes

Ease of Preparation: Easy

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Eggplant Rollatini
Jessica Orange Park, FL 03-18-2010
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Italian eggplant! Not worth the effort
Rated: 2 stars out of 5

When I make grilled eggplant lasagna, I always use Japanese/Asian eggplant. It has a silky texture, no bitter flavor, and... the skin is tender. I made the rollatini using YOUNG Italian eggplant which was firm to the touch. I followed instructions to the letter. We had to use steak knives to cut the doggoned eggplant which was as tough as shoe leather and you need teeth as sharp as a Cuisinart blade to chew the skin. A waste of ricotta, parmigiano and buffalo mozzarella and all because of the texture of the eggplant and the tough skin. Read more
recipe Eggplant Rollatini
Ozlem Carlsbad, CA 02-28-2010
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Beautiful Presentation and Flavor...Seriously Delicious!!!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

This is sooo worth the effort to make. I used a grill pan and broiled the sliced eggplant in my oven about 3 minutes each... side, to give it the grill marks. I did not have riccota so I used low fat cream cheese with fresh grated parmesean, pine nuts (not toasted), fresh basil, dried oregano and pepper. I mixed togetherin my little hand mixer until the pine nuts were lightly chopped and consistency relatively smooth. Once the eggplants were done, I rolled about 2 tbsp of the cheese into each slice, placed in a glass baking dish and poured all of the homemade tomato sauce all over it. Sprinked some shredded cheese on top and then baked per recipe. My husband who is not a fan of eggplant said it was one of the best meals I have ever made!! (and I cook every night!) This is a meal I will be making again and again!Read more
recipe Eggplant Rollatini
JESSIE SAN PEDRO, CA 02-10-2010
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EvEn NoN EggPlAnT EaTeRs LoVeD It
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

This recipe was easy and was loved by non eggplant eaters. Mise En Place wasnt bad at all. I made half the eggplant recipe... for 3 and the whole sauce which I will use next week to make fresh pasta. Keeping that in mind the Mise En Place for the eggplant will only be about 45 minutes....Thanks Giada I have a few more of your recipes to rate.... Read more
recipe Eggplant Rollatini
Orisbel Fort Lauderda;e, FL 01-01-2010
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Delicious!!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I made this recipe for our New Year's Eve dinner and it was simply delicious. My family loves eggplant so it was great... eating it made this way. I had eaten eggplant rollatini in restaurants before and I was very pleased with the outcome. Technically I had some difficulty cutting the eggplant uniformly. I also improvised on the homemade sauce as I did not have all the ingredients listed. If your pressed for time, you can always prepare the sauce ahead of time. Making your own sauce is always a nice alternative. Overall this is an excellent dish and I will be making this again for my family! Read more
recipe Eggplant Rollatini
Patricia Port Washington, NY 11-23-2009
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Birthday Lunch
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I am not known for my cooking ability but wanted to surprise my friend at work with a birthday lunch. I found this recipe... easy to follow and delicious. My only comment is that 4 minutes of grilling on both sides of the eggplant slices was too long. I did take one persons advice and used a jar of Newmans Marinara sauce. Serve it with a Panzanella salad and you have a true winner. Everyone at the birthday lunch wanted the recipe. I am sure to make this one again. Thank you Giada!Read more
recipe Eggplant Rollatini
Amanda Minneapolis, MN 10-13-2009
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Flavorful, filling vegetarian meal!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I made this last night for my husband (who was not shy about telling me of his dislike for eggplant) and I and it was... terrific! Some past reviewers mentioned this was a tedious recipe, however if you plan ahead and read the recipe through before you start you can generally make this dish fairly quickly (i also already had Giada's marinara sauce made in my freezer from past lasagna recipes I've made this season which speed things along). I served it with thin spaghetti and caesar salad and there wasn't a bite left on our plates! I loved the taste and texture the pine nuts added to the ricotta cheese mixture. Thanks G for another great dish - will definitely be making this again (and eating leftovers for lunch today)!Read more