Eggplant Rollatini

A few days ago, I found beautiful eggplants in sale at my grocery store. I purchased two of them with the intention of making Eggplant Parm for dinner. However I also had on hand a quart of ricotta cheese an decided that I would attempt to make eggplant rollatini instead.



Ingredients
2 large purple eggplants, skin on, washed and dried
1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce
2 cups of mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp basil, dried or fresh basil leaves washed and shredded
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Slice the eggplant lengthwise 1/4 - 1/3 inch thick. If you cut the leaf end off first and make it flat, you can easily cut the eggplant slices by standing it on end. Divide the Olive oil between two jelly roll or lipped cookie sheets. Line with foil first and you have easy clean-up. Place the eggplant slices in the oil on the pan and flip so they are coated with the oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake for 12-15 minutes on each side, flipping halfway through so they are just starting to turn brown for a total of 24-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Drop the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

While the eggplant slices are baking, in a medium bowl blend the eggs, ricotta, 1 cup mozerrella cheese and the various seasonings together until smooth. Once the slices have cooled, spoon the filling onto each slice and roll up. Pour 1/3 of the sauce into the bottom of the baking pan and arrange the eggplant rolls in the pan. Cover with the sauce and sprinkle with the remaining cheeses.



Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes, uncovered. Remove from the oven and allow to set for 5 minutes before serving.
I served mine over fresh cooked angel hair pasta and with a side salad for the perfect dinner.

Makes 4-6 servings.