Rolled Eggplant

Rolling rather than layering eggplant gave a unique presentation to what would have been akin to lasagnas. But see below for a layered approach.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 3 teaspoon Italian herbs
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 10 ounces spinach, defrost if frozen
• 12 ounces tomato sauce / marinara
• 1 ounce mozzarella cheese

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In a pie plate, stir egg until smooth.
3. In a separate pie plate, mix bread crumbs and herbs.
4. Slice eggplant lengthwise into long, thin (¼” or 5mm) slices.
5. Dip eggplant slices in egg and bread crumbs and arrange in a single layer on a cookie sheet.
6. Bake slices for 5 minutes, turn over, then bake for another 5 minutes.
7. Spread ricotta cheese on slices.
8. Spread spinach on slices.
9. Roll slices and place seam side down in a 8″ x 10″ baking dish.
10. Pour sauce over rolls.
11. Sprinkle mozzarella over the sauce.
12. Bake until hot and bubbly, ~20 minutes.

Update May 2019

Eggplants must be bigger in Florida than Indiana (February 2012). When I made this today I needed to double the breading (bread crumbs and herbs) and added a couple of tablespoons of milk to the eggs used to coat the eggplant.

I also layered the baked eggplant, ricotta cheese, and spinach rather than rolling them to yield our meal.