Grilled Eggplant Rolls (7/10)

We had some left over little Italy pasta sauce from last week when we had some Ohio City ravioli. I searched around the internet and how a list of 50 things to do with left over pasta sauce. They weren't really recipes but just ideas.

Left over Pasta Sauce Ideas

It was a toss up between the pizza baked potato and the stuffed eggplant. I thought it would be fun to make something nice for Lindsay so I went with the eggplant since she likes it so much.

The recipe looked a little bland so I thought I would change just a few things.

1) I got fresh mozzarella cheese and added a slice to the top of each roll.

2) I didn't have any fresh basil since the herb garden isn't up and running yet so I just used some dried Italian spices

3)I used Asiago instead of Parmesan since we like the flavor a little more

4)I added a little pasta sauce to the filling to give it a red coloring.

I bought 2 medium eggplants and it made quite a bit. Next time I would only buy 1 and cut it much thinner.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 2 Tbs red wine vinegar
• 1 large eggplant, cut lengthwise into 1/4″ slices (next time try cutting very thin)
• Salt and fresh ground pepper
• 12 ounces fresh, whole milk ricotta (about 1 1/2 cups) – other types of ricotta would be great too!
• 2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling (used Asiago)
• 1/4 tsp each salt and fresh ground pepper
• 1/4 cup of chopped basil or flat leaf parsley
• Tomato sauce
• pinch of garlic powder if on hand
• pinch of onion powder if on hand

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat.
2. Stir olive oil and vinegar together in a small bowl and brush onto both sides of the eggplant slices; season both sides with salt and pepper. Or just add the salt and pepper to the basting mixture to make it easier
3. Grill eggplant slices, turning once, until tender and golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate. This won't take very long if you cut it thing
4. In a medium bowl, stir together ricotta, Parmesan, salt, pepper, and half of the basil. Add couple of spoonfuls of sauce for color
5. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the cheese mixture onto each slice of eggplant at the tapered end – 1 inch from the bottom edge with a 1/4-inch border on each side. Roll each slice away from you and arrange rolls, seam side down, on the baking sheet.
6. Spoon tomato sauce over rolls, add slice of mozz and sprinkle a little more Asiago for looks. and place them in the oven until warmed through, about 15 minutes.
7. Sprinkle with Parmesan and remaining basil and serve immediately.

Overall these were pretty good. I'm not sure if I will make them again. Overall they were pretty easy for how fancy they were. They might be good over a bed of pasta or if you really wanted to make a fancy rich meal you could make a cream sauce for a dinner party.