Easy Eggplant Rollatini

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Ingredients

3 -4 Large Eggplants sliced into 1/8 - 1/4 inch lengthwise slices
2 Tbs vegetable oil for pan
18 ounces ricotta cheese
1/2 pound grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese + 1/4 - 1/2 cup for topping
1 large jar your favorite sauce
salt & pepper
1 Tbs dried oregano
2 eggs

Preparation

1
Preheat oven to 375°
2
Take the sliced eggplant and salt both sides to remove excess water and avert a bitter taste, place into a colander and allow to drain for about 15 minutes. Then take the eggplant, rinse off the salt and pat dry. Each eggplant should leave you with a few small slices from the sides that won't be large enough to roll, take these and finely dice them and in a small fry pan with a little olive oil and 1 clove of garlic sauté until tender, place cooked eggplant into a bowl and allow to cool.
3
Take a large cast iron fry pan and put on medium high heat, brush lightly with oil and place a few of the eggplant slices at a time into the pan and allow to slightly char on both sides, remove to a wire rack to cool and continue to cook all the eggplant slices.
4
While the eggplant cools in a large bowl place the ricotta, mozzarella, 1/4 cup of Parmesan, the salt and pepper, the oregano, and eggs,and the sautéd diced eggplant and mix thoroughly.
5
Take the eggplant and place a spoonful of the filling on the thin end and roll gently up. Place in a baking pan, seam side down, that has a little sauce spread on the bottom to keep the eggplant from sticking to the pan. Continue until all the slices are done and in the pan.* Spoon sauce over the top of the rolls and sprinkle the Parmesan over the top. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
6
* if you have left over filling you can use it, by adding more cheeses and making baked ziti or some other cheesy recipe the next day
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About

Eggplant rollatini, "rollatini" not being a truly Italian word, some suggest involtini, however this word in Italian implies a small bite ie: an hors d' oeuvres, but rollatini is certainly a stand alone main dish.

As with it's name there are certainly many variations to the recipe. It is after all a recipe so feel free to experiment, nothing is written in stone!

This version is a simple to make. You can certainly prepare a homemade sauce if you want, and you can add or delete whatever you want to the filling

"To peel or not to peel, that is the question", and of course the answer is up to you. For years I peeled all my eggplant but in an adventurous mood I prepared a few dishes with unpeeled eggplant and was surprised to find that the skin is quite delicious. In this recipe unpeeled makes a nice presentation to the dish. However in the example we made the eggplants available at our local market weren't that great so I peeled them.

Added:

Monday, November 25, 2013 - 11:59am

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