eggplant involtini – smitten kitchen

Prepare the eggplant: If roasting your eggplant, warmth your oven to 425°F. Line two massive baking sheets with parchment paper if roasting the eggplant, or for standard relieve if grilling. Slash tops off eggplant and reduce into generous 1/4-inch-thick slices. Organize in a single layer on baking sheets. Brush flippantly with olive oil and period well with salt and pepper. Flip slices and repeat on the 2nd aspect.

To roast: Transfer to oven and cook for 10 to 12 minutes on the initially side, then flip every slice and roast for an additional 8 to 10 on the second, right up until browned on every single aspect.

To grill: Grill around robust heat right up until dim marks appear on each individual side, about 8 minutes for the first side and 5 minutes for the next.

For each methods: Established eggplant aside to cool. If your oven isn’t previously heated to 425, do so now.

When eggplant cools, make the sauce: Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a 11- to 12-inch pot above medium, include minced garlic, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and a pinch or three of pink pepper flakes, and dried oregano. Cook dinner for just one moment. Incorporate tomatoes (it will splatter, be cautious) and stir. Prepare dinner at a simmer for 10 minutes, stirring at times. Though it simmers, assemble your eggplant rolls.

When the sauce is carried out, taste and add additional seasoning, as necessary. If you’d like it smoother, you can blend to your desired regularity. This yields 3 cups sauce. Prior to assembling, ladle out 1 cup sauce and set it aside for serving. If your pan you created the sauce in is ovenproof, you are great to go. If it is not, transfer all but 1 cup reserved sauce to a 2-quart baking dish.

Assemble the involtini: In a bowl, incorporate ricotta, mozzarella, 1/4 cup parmesan, lemon zest, about 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a handful of grinds of black pepper. Location about 1 tablespoon at the close of every total-sized slice of cooked eggplant, a minor significantly less on little kinds, applying all of the filling, Roll into a cigar. Put every single roll in ready sauce, seam facet down.

Bake: Brush tops of eggplant rolls evenly with olive oil and bake uncovered approximately 30 minutes, right until bubbly close to the edges and browned on top. Squeeze lemon juice more than the major and scatter with basil leaves just before serving. Serve very hot, with reserved sauce and further grated parmesan cheese, if desired, on the side.

Serve with: Garlic bread, possibly? Or spaghetti, if you have young children or children-at-coronary heart.