A simple recipe for Eggplant Rollatini (Vegetarian & Gluten-Free)
Follow these simple steps:
First, let´s get our Eggplant “pasta” ready
1. You need to cut the eggplant in thin strips. (Don´t cut it in circles!)
2. Bake the eggplant strips in the oven on 325º F. until soft (6-8 min)
3. Let the eggplant strips cool.
While we wait:
We start our mixture for the rollatini stuffing!
1. In a bowl, mix pre-cooked spinach (cook the spinach in a pan with some olive oil and a bit of water), goat cheese, a dash of salt and pepper and one egg.
2. Scramble and mix the ingredients with a fork.
Now, let´s make the home-made sauce! (you can also buy a sauce already made, but it´s always better and healthier to make your food from scratch!)
1. Cut some tomatoes any way you wish ( I usually use tomatoes that have their last days counted, this way you use produce before it goes to waste and make delicious meals out of them). If you don´t know how to measure how much tomato sauce will come out from the tomatoes, then use from 5-6 medium sized tomatoes.
2. Cut the onion, you can mince it if you want (use 1/3 of a full onion if you wish or more).
3. Start heating a pan, spray some olive oil.
4. Peel and cut your garlic (2 gloves, more or less)
5. Place the onion on the pan, turn down the flame to avoid burning it, then place your garlic. Once you see your onion turning translucent and your garlic not so raw, place the tomatoes and let it all cook away! Add a dash a sugar to give it an exceptional taste. Add some water to make everything cook better, let the ingredients and flavors come out!
After 10 min of cooking away, let it cool down.
6. Mix it all together in a blender and pour it into a pot, with a low flame underneath.
7. Start adding a tiny bit of butter (optional), more olive oil, some spices (oregano, italian herb mix), if you have fresh basil and rosemary even better! and let it cook. Once it starts bubbling it´s time to leave your sauce to the side. REMEMBER: Taste your sauce as you go and make sure it´s just like you want it.
Once you´re done with your sauce…
1.Take out your pre-cooked eggplant slices and stretch them out on a board.
2. Add your mixture at the tip of the eggplant slices. Roll each slice with the mixture inside.
3. Add some sauce on the surface of a pyrex pan.
4. Place each stuffed roll on-top of the sauce, having the part where the eggplant folds facing the bottom (this way you´ll hold in the mixture) Do this until you fill the pan and finish your mixture/ eggplant slices.
5. Once the slices are all in the pan cover the eggplant rollatini with your tomato sauce and sprinkle some freshly grated parmesan. Cover it with foil and place it in the oven!
6. Let it bake away at 350º F for 20 min. Take off the foil in the last few minutes to make the top crispy.
7. You´re done!
ENJOY YOUR EGGPLANT ROLLATINI!
Recipe shared by Jennifer Chapman
