Ricotta Stuffed Eggplant Rolls

Look at that… one thing I never thought I would put on this blog, a dish featuring eggplant. Me and eggplant have a weird relationship. Way-back-when I had prepared an eggplant dish and it didn’t really go as planned. It was bitter. And not “let’s just add more sauce and it’ll be fine” bitter, I’m talking noticeable bitter. At that moment I decided eggplant was not my thing.

The strange thing is, I never really stopped buying it. Every once and a while an eggplant finds its way into my shopping cart. It’s almost as if my stomach thought that by some bizarre miracle it won’t just sit in my fridge for a week; I might actually figure out what to do with the damn thing. Alas, the week goes by and that eggplant would make it’s way into the safest meal possible: stir-fry.

And then I went out on a limb and made this recipe. It converted me. Since preparing and enjoying far to many servings of this recipe, I have made eggplant on four separate occasions. This recipe ignited my love for eggplant. Ok, love is a strong word… this recipe made me enjoy eating eggplant. Boy have I come a long way!

Eggplant gets the umami treatment in this easy to prepare dish. Rich ricotta is rolled inside thinly sliced eggplant and then smothered in tomato sauce and melty mozzarella.

Ingredients
1 large eggplant
1 1/2 cups ricotta
1/4 cup finely grated parmesan
1 tbsp garlic & herb seasoning
2 cups pasta sauce
3/4 cup grated mozzarella
2 tbsp fresh chopped basil

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Slice eggplant lengthwise, in widths about 1/2 inch thick. Place on parchment lined baking sheet. Roast in oven until eggplant has softened, approximately 5-10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a bowl mix together ricotta, parmesan, and garlic & herb seasoning.
4. Pour pasta sauce into a baking dish.
5. Remove eggplant from oven and allow to cool. Divide the ricotta mixture between slices of eggplant. Firmly roll eggplant around ricotta mixture and place seam side down in the pasta sauce. Continue until all are rolled.
6. Spoon pasta sauce onto tops of eggplant rolls, and then sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
7. Bake in a 350F oven until cheese is melted and sauce is warmed, approximately 15 minutes.
8. Garnish with chopped basil. Serve.

What’s your favourite way to prepare eggplant?