Ingredients to make tasty eggplant rolls
What to do when you return from a 5 week trip to discover that your vegetable garden has gone wild. My aubergine plants were resisting the temptation to lie down under the weight of a number of ripe globes ready to be picked. My tomato plants resembled a web of dirty hair strands waiting for a good clipping. My box of fresh herbs was also in disrepair with the mint and wild rocket winning the battle of reaching for the stars.
These happy aubergines are so ready to be eaten!
Needless to say, I decided to save what I could, and create a few dishes for the week to use up as much fresh produce as possible. I sliced the aubergines thinly, lengthwise, brushed them with a little olive oil and sea salt and baked them in the oven.
So simple with the help of a little olive oil and sea salt.
At the same time, I collected the remaining cocktail tomatoes to also bake with olive oil and sea salt in the oven. I also knew that if I could not use up all of my aubergines and tomatoes for the rolls then both roasted vegetables could be frozen to be used at a later date, which made this process even more fulfilling. A little taste of summer for later in the year.
I wizzed the tomatoes in a food processor to make a fresh, roasted tomato sauce and used the cooked eggplant slices for my roll-ups. The result was so tasty and worth a try.
Use up tomatoes and eggplant from the garden for the last tastes of summer.
- 2 medium eggplants, thinly sliced lengthwise and baked in the oven with a little olive oil and sea salt
- 2 cups tomato sauce (made from roasting tomatoes in oven with olive oil and sea salt)
- 1 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Mozzarella cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (basil, oregano, thyme)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Prepare eggplant slices
- Prepare tomato sauce or use store bought sauce
- Spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce over the base of an oven-proof dish, large enough to hold 12 rolls.
- In a medium bowl, mix together ricotta, egg, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, 1/4 cup Mozzarella, herbs and seasoning.
- Lay the aubergine slices on a flat surface. If the slices are small, use two by placing one slice half way on top of the other to be the same size as a large slices.
- Place a heaping tablespoon of cheese mixture at one end of the slice and then roll up.
- Place each roll up in two rows on the tomato sauce in the oven-proof dish.
- Once all the rolls are in the dish, spoon over the remaining cup of tomato sauce and sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 180C (350F) or until heated through and the sauce is bubbling.
- The rolls can be frozen before being cooked and used at a later date.
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