Eggplant Rollatini
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Our Farmer’s Market has beautiful eggplants which became this gorgeous dish, eggplant rollatini.
What is Eggplant Rollatini?
The name itself gives you a big hit. It’s rolled eggplant, stuffed with ricotta cheese, covered with homemade tomato sauce and topped with mozzarella.
The good news here is that it’s naturally low carb, bas the eggplant is first sliced and baked with NO breading, just olive oil and then rolled with with the cheese.
Choose Eggplant…
Choose long slender eggplant that will yield long slices. Keep in mind they will shrink a bit when you bake them to soften them.
How to Drain and Prepare Ricotta Cheese for Eggplant Rollatini
Not all ricotta cheese is equal. I love the Polly O brand because it’s a bit firmer doesn’t require much draining. However with most brands of ricotta cheese, there is a bit of liquid that you will want to drain. Put the ricotta in a colander lined with damp paper towel or cheesecloth. I just leave it like that for an hour. You could also cover with plastic, and put a heavy bowl on top to push out that extra liquid.
Season with pecorino cheese or parmesan, parsley or basil, and add one egg per two cups.
- Ricotta Cheese
- Parmesan or Pecorino
- Egg
- Basil or Parsley
- Salt, Pepper
Quick Homemade Tomato Sauce
This is just as easy as opening a jar of sauce.
You will be baking the eggplant rollatini in tomato sauce. You can make a very clean, quick sauce with a large can of San Marzano Tomatoes.
Heat garlic just until softened in olive oil. Crush tomatoes in your hands, add to oil. Add salt, pepper and cook on low, while preparing eggplant and ricotta cheese. I like to then puree the sauce with an immersion blender.
- San Marzano Tomatoes
- Olive Oil
- Salt, Pepper
- Garlic
Slice Eggplant and Bake to Soften
Slice eggplant about 1/4 inch thick. It’s best to use a mandolin to keep slices even. I made two versions, one with skin on, one with skin off. It’s fine either way.
Sweat out the extra water content by salting for 15 minutes. Rinse off salt, dry with paper towels.
Brush with small amount olive oil. Bake until softened about 10-15 minutes. The slices need to be soft enough to roll, but not so soft, they fall apart.
Roll and Stuff Eggplant
Once baked slices are cooled place about 2 tablespoons of ricotta mixture and roll. Cover bottom of baking dish with tomato sauce (just enough to cover bottom). Place seam side down on sauce. Cover with more sauce, grated cheese and mozzarella. Pi
Bake
Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake for five more minutes. Let this cool for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy with a side salad and crusty bread.
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More Eggplant Dishes
- Italian Sausage Stuffed Eggplant
- Low Carb Eggplant Parm Pepperoni
- Ground Veal Stuffed Eggplant
- Eggplant Soup
- Eggplant Lasagna
Eggplant Rollatini
Ingredients
- 2 eggplants
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoon pecorino romano or parmesan
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- 2 tablespoons chopped basil or parsley
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Tomato Sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 16 ounce San Marzano Tomatoes
- salt and pepper
Instructions
Drain Ricotta
- Place ricotta on piece of cheesecloth over colander. (can use paper towels). I use Polly O brand which is more firm than most. Drain excess for up to an hour. Make sauce and sweat eggplant during this time.
Tomato Sauce
- Heat oil in sauce pan and soften garlic. Add tomatoes. Crush with your hands. Continue to cook on low, while preparing dish. Once you're ready to add sauce to dish, you can blend using an immersion blender. This is an option and something I like to do.
Sweat Eggplant
- Slice eggplant 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Use a mandolin if you have one for even slicing. Lay out slices and salt to sweat out moisture. This will take about 15-20 minutes. Rinse salt off and dry with paper towels.
- Lay eggplant on baking dish on parchment paper. Brush with olive oil and bake at 375 degrees F. for 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness of your eggplant. Test to see if eggplant easily rolls. You don't want to bake so long that you can't roll.
Prepare Ricotta Cheese
- Once drained, mix ricotta with egg, 2 tablespoons of grated pecorino romano and parmesan, 2 tablespoons mozzarella, parsley or basil. Season as needed with ground black papper and salt. If using pecorino, use just a touch salt, a this cheese is salty.
Roll Eggplant and Bake
- Once eggplant is baked and cooled, add approximately two tablespoons ricotta mixture to slices and roll. Place sauce on bottom of dish and place eggplant seam side down onto sauce. Top with more sauce, and sprinkle with mozzarella.
- Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake for 5 to 10 minutes more.
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