Eggplant Rollatini

My Mom's specialty:

Eggplant Rollatini

Eggplant, peeled & sliced 1/4" long 

Salt & pepper

Egg, split

Flour

Breadcrumbs

Oil for frying (vegetable, peanut, canola)

Ricotta

Frozen chopped spinach

Parmesan

Marinara

Mozzarella

Fried Eggplant:

After slicing the eggplant lightly dust with salt and lay them out on paper towels to sweat for about 15 minutes. In the meantime prepare your dredging bowls. One bowl with a well beaten egg, one with flour and another with breadcrumbs. Blot the moisture off the eggplant and preheat grease in wok (if available). Dredge eggplant slices in the following order: egg, flour, egg, breadcrumbs. Then, deep fry until golden brown and cool on a rack (with paper towels underneath). Dust the fried eggplant with salt and pepper while they are still hot. 

Filling:

Defrost the chopped spinach in the microwave for 3 minutes, flip over and heat an additional 3 minutes. Drain by squeezing handfuls of spinach over the sink. Mix spinach with ricotta, 1 egg and Parmesan. 

Build:

Preheat oven to 375*. Grease a glass baking dish and lightly cover the bottom with marinara. Spread ricotta filling over each slice of fried eggplant and roll up tightly. Place in a baking pan pretty close together. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour marinara over each roll. Sprinkle with mozzarella and bake an additional 20 minutes. They are truly heavenly!

Whole Grain Pasta With Fresh Tomatoes, Basil, Olive Oil and Parmesan. 

While the pasta is draining heat some olive oil in the pot you boiled your pasta. Throw your tomatoes in and cook for about 5 minutes over high heat, stirring a couple of times. Add salt, fresh ground pepper and freshly chopped basil in with the tomatoes. Stir once and add pasta. Mix well and top with Parmesan. This was a nice simple accompaniment to the very hardy and flavorful Eggplant Rollatini 

Amazing Fresh French Green Beans (from Sam's)

Bring salted water to a boil and cook for 13 minutes. Drizzle with 1-2 Tablespoons of butter and dust with salt & pepper. 

The men were gone so we vegged out with a homemade Italian feast.