Eggplant Rolls and an Italian Feast!

These were good.  Really Really Good!  

I was at the grocer’s today with a friend and noticed some good looking eggplant in the veg section.  It reminded me of a recipe I found on Pinterest from another blog called Not Enough Cinnamon

I decided to grab some for tonights dinner…I’m so glad I did!  These were great.  I made tweaked the recipe ever so slightly (basically just adding more cheese) – yep I have a problem.  I also poured in a little of Whitewater Cooks BEST Basil Dressing

For the way I made it you will need the following:

 – 2 large eggplants

 – 2 cups of ricotta cheese

 – About 2 Cups of Mozza (I used half fresh mozza as I had some bocconcini on hand)

 – 1 cup shredded Parmesan Reggiano (please use the real stuff – it’s so much better)

 – 1 very large tub of spinach which I cooked down and squeezed the liquid out of (or frozen about 9oz squeeze the liquid out first)

 – 2 eggs

 – 2 garlic cloves minced

 – salt and pepper to taste

 – About 1 cup or so of Passata (Tomato Puree)

 – A little Basil dressing if you have it…or maybe a bit of Basil if not

First preheat your oven to 400C.

While that’s heating up take out 2 large baking sheets and oil them up a bit.

Then slice your eggplant thinly.

Brush the eggplant with a tad bit of olive oil and season with salt and pepper

Cook for 10 minutes remove from oven and let cool.

While they are cooking mix together your cheeses with your garlic, eggs, basil dressing and spinach (leaving out half your cheeses (I left out the fresh mozza to top with) and parm.  Season this with salt and pepper.

By the time you have finished this the eggplant should be cool enough to handle.

Take out a large baking dish and put half your passata (tomator puree) on the bottom.

Place a couple TBSP of filling in the centre of each eggplant slice and roll up laying seam side down in a baking dish.

Fill up your tray

Top with the rest of your passata and cheeses

Cover in Foil and Bake in a 350F oven for 45 minutes.  Remove foil and bake uncovered for another 15 minutes.

Serve sprinkled with a little chopped flat leaf italian parsley

With this I served up some delicious Chicken Meatballs I made yesterday with ground chicken, garlic, some more of that Basil Dressing, Fresh Breadcrumbs, Egg, Fresh Parmesan, Salt and Pepper and Loads of Chopped fresh Basil.

I baked these in a 400F oven for about 15 minutes.

The I threw them in a freezer bag and threw them in the freezer for a later meal.

That meal came tonight.

Chop up 1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic and cook for a bit in a little olive oil.

Thrown a can of tomatoes in your food processor and whiz until smooth.  Throw this in along with the remaining passata from the last recipe.

Start piling in your meatballs

Throw in a Rind from your parmesan if you have one (I always keep these for this) – adds such a nice flavour

Add some salt and pepper

Cover and let simmer for awhile

Remove the cover and tear in a bunch of fresh basil.

While this is all happening bring a large pot of Salted Water to a boil and cook up some linguini until Al Dente.

Toss those two babies together and you have this