No Pasta Eggplant Roll-ups

Hi all,

I hope your summer has been filled with wonderful meals. This is one of my favorite recipes. I adapted if from a Boston Globe recipe. There are a few steps to make these. But, I think the Eggplant roll-ups makes a nice meal and is wonderful  for leftovers. They heat up great in the microwave, so a full recipe can last for a few meals.

1 medium eggplant
2 or 3 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut the eggplant lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick slices. If the end pieces are mostly skin, you can discard these. But I like to use as much of the eggplant as possible. Try to cut the pieces all about the same thickness. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of oil. Lay slices on sheet dipping both sides of the eggplant in the olive oil. The eggplant will absorb the oil, sprinkle with additional olive oil and then salt and pepper the slices. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes. The tops of the eggplant will start browning. But test with your finger, you don't want the eggplant to get too mushy. Take out the eggplant and set aside to cool. Turn oven down to 375 degrees.

4 or 5 Italian sausages (optional)

If you want to make this a vegetarian dish you can leave out the sausages. But sometimes I like to add them. Cover the sausages in a medium frying pan with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain off the water and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Cook until the sausages are brown. Remove sausages from pan. You don't need to wash the pan just use it for making the sauce.

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
Oregano and Basil
Fresh parsley
Salt and Pepper

In a medium frying pan heat over medium heat add olive oil and garlic. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomatoes A few shakes of oregano and basil. Some fresh parsley if you have some and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and turn heat to simmer sauce while preparing the filling. If you decided to do sausages, add them into the sauce.

1 cup ricotta cheese
3/4 cup parmesean cheese
1 egg
3 tablespoons fresh parsley
salt and pepper

Mixed the above ingredients in a bowl. Divide the filling evenly and spoon onto the middle of each eggplant slice. Fold the eggplant into thirds, making two folds to cover the filling. Onto the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan spoon half the sauce. Flip the eggplant cylinders onto the tomato sauce. Arrange the sausages along the side. Spoon the rest of the sauce running down the middle of each eggplant roll.

1/4 cup parmesan

Sprinkle the top with additional parmesan. Bake 20 minutes or until sauce is bubbling. I hope the directions haven't scared you off. After you've made this once, it'll be much faster the next time. I hope you enjoy them. They make a nice Italian meal without the pasta.

Hugs,
Mameekosan