RECIPE: Rec: Eggplant Rotellini

RECIPE:
D

dawnnys

Well-known member
12 oz ricotta cheese

2-3 cloves minced garlic

2 tsp lemon juice

2 Tbs olive oil

1 Tbs fresh basil, chopped

1/2 c chopped spinach or kale

In a medium-sized bowl, crumble the cheese and add the salt, garlic, lemon juice and oil. Mix with a fork until combined. Stir in the basil, and the spinach; set aside.

For the flour/breading mixture:

1 c whole wheat flour (or combination of whatever flours you have)

1 c fine cornmeal or flour

salt (to taste)

1/2 t onion powder

ground black pepper, to taste

The sauce:

Use your favorite marinara sauce: made from scratch, from a jar, or anything in between.

The eggplant:

1 large eggplant

1/2 - 1 c olive oil

salt

Slice the eggplant diagonally as thin as you can. Cover a large casserole dish with olive oil, and lay each eggplant slice in the oil, flipping after ten seconds or so--they should be well coated, even partially soaked. After dipping, sprinkle the slices w/ salt and pile on a separate plate. Repeat until all of the eggplant is oiled and salted. Your casserole dish should now be greased and ready.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Heat a non-stick skillet and cook each eggplant slice until slightly browned and very soft. Place each slice into the bowl of flour mixture and flip to coat thoroughly. Once floured, place a tablespoonful or two of the cheese mixture into the center of the eggplant slices, roll the slice up and place in the casserole dish. Sprinkle any leftover flour mixture evenly over the eggplant rolls.

Cook at 400 degrees F for about 30 minutes until slightly browned and crispy looking on top.

For the sauce, heat and pour over the entire dish, or spoon over individual eggplant servings.

 
Dawn, have you made this?

I have been looking for a rotellini but the one I had on vacation did not dredge in flour. I think they cooked the eggplant slices in the pizza oven.

 
Yes, it works very well. You don't have to use the flour if you don't

want to, just use olive oil. Pre-cooking the slice before you roll them up in a pizza oven sounds right if you want to make them quickly (as in a restaurant). That step just softens them up a little before you roll them - at home you might just use the highest heat you can to soften them - broiling would work well too. The flour just gives the slices a little bit of a crust, which will soften in the sauce anyway. That's the recipe I had.

Do you mean they first baked the raw slices in the oven without the cheese filling and sauce?

I just sauted them in a frying pan. By the way, I also covered them with the sauce before I baked them... a little by accident, but it was very good that way.

 
Sounds good. Reminds me of this one I've posted before. REC: GRILLED EGGPLANT ROULADES OLIVO

GRILLED EGGPLANT ROULADES OLIVO

1 medium eggplant
4 T olive oil
3 plum tomatoes
5 dried tomatoes packed in oil
1 small onion
1 garlic clove
2 T pine nuts, toasted
2 T finely chopped mixed fresh herbs (such as basil, mint, parsley, and tarragon leaves)
1/4 cup crumbled soft mild goat cheese (about 2 ounces)
1 T freshly grated Parmesan

Prepare grill.

Trim eggplant and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Using a total of 3 tablespoons oil for eggplant, lightly brush both sides of each slice with some oil and grill in batches on an oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals until golden brown and tender, about 3 minutes on each side. (Alternatively, broil eggplant under a preheated broiler about 3 inches from heat.) With a metal spatula transfer eggplant as grilled to a platter and keep warm, loosely covered.

Cut an X in blossom end of each plum tomato. Have ready a bowl of ice and cold water. In a small saucepan of boiling water blanch tomatoes 10 seconds and transfer with a slotted spoon to ice water to stop cooking. Peel tomatoes and seed. Chop blanched and dried tomatoes. Mince onion and garlic.

In a 10-inch heavy skillet heat remaining tablespoon oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté onion, garlic, and pine nuts, stirring, until onion and pine nuts are golden. Add blanched and dried tomatoes and herbs and sauté, stirring, until liquid tomatoes give off is evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add goat cheese and Parmesan and cook, stirring, just until melted. Remove skillet from heat and season filling with salt and pepper.

Put a generous tablespoon filling at wide end of an eggplant slice and roll up slice toward narrow end, enclosing filling. Make more roulades in same manner and arrange on a warm platter.

Makes about 8 roulades, serving 2 as a main course or 4 as a side dish.. Epicurious

 
I'll try it!

The Italian restaurant we ate at served the eggplant without filling. They roasted the eggplant before it was rolled and then suspended it in sauce and cheese.

I'll try some with flour and some without in my next attempt at recreating the original. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Thank-you! Colleen

 
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