Photo: Eggplant Cannelloni Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 medium eggplants, cut into 1/4-inch planks
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 4 cups vegetable oil
- 1 cup eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 to 1 cup goat cheese, divided
- 12 fresh basil leaves
- 2 cups Marinara Sauce, recipe follows
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan
Directions
Place the sliced eggplant in a shallow pan with the buttermilk and marinate for 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat to 350 degrees F.
Beat the eggs and milk together to make an egg wash. Once the oil is to temperature, dredge the eggplant in the flour, tap off any excess, and then coat with the prepared egg wash. Slip gently into the oil and fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip and continue to cook the other side until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. After frying, remove to paper towels to drain. Repeat the process until all the eggplant has been fried.
Lay the eggplant flat and apply about 1 tablespoon goat cheese to the bottom short edge of the eggplant. Top the goat cheese with 1 basil leaf and roll the eggplant from bottom to top, ensuring the goat cheese and basil stays in the middle of the roll. Place the rolls in a baking dish.
Top the rolls with Marinara Sauce, sprinkle with Parmesan, and bake until the cheese has melted, about 10 minutes.
Marinara Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 onion yellow, diced
- 1/4 cup diced celery
- 1/4 cup red wine
- 1 quart red sauce of choice
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and thinly sliced or minced
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme
- 1/4 cup dried oregano
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh basil leaves
- 2 cups diced tomatoes
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a saucepan over medium-high heat, add the oil and heat to the verge of smoking. Add the onions and celery and cook until the onions are translucent. Deglaze the pan with the wine, stir and scrape up any bits, and then add the red sauce and garlic. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the Worcestershire sauce, thyme, oregano, basil, and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
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By shanespringer
on June 21, 2011
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Great! While it is very easy to make, it's time consuming. I had 18 planks of eggplant. I replaced the flour and oil half way through the frying process. I also needed more goat cheese than called for. I opted to not make the marinara due to time constraints, but used Rao's marinara - which is fantastic! Overall, I recommend trying this! I have plenty of leftovers. Next time I'll cut it in half. What a great meal!
By pamelas50
Portland, OR
on March 30, 2011
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Loved it and found it easy to make. Had to omit the garlic as I'm allergic to it but other than that, I loved it and so did my friends. Even those who thought they didn't like eggplant!
By jdancer7
Denver, CO
on February 02, 2011
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This was delicious! It was my first time making a Robert Irvine recipe and I was very pleased with the results. I wasn't sure what was meant by 'red sauce of choice', so I ended up using a 28 ounce can of concentrated tomato puree and added the same amount of water. So it was more red sauce than called for, but the amount of everything else worked out to be the perfect amount. Plus the marinara sauce is so good that I was happy to have the leftovers. I also added the garlic for about 30 seconds before putting in the red wine to deglaze the pan. The goat cheese and the fried eggplant were great together and the marinara sauce just added a really special touch.
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