Eggplant Involtini with Herbed Ricotta

This recipe called for slices of eggplant to be wrapped around a ricotta filling. My eggplant slices weren't thin enough to make it work and I was on a schedule. Instead I built this dish quickly, like a lasagna: a layer of tomato sauce, layer of ricotta, and layer of eggplant repeated. I topped this off with a few cups of spinach left over from a half-finished salad. Not bad, not bad at all. 

The meatless dishes I'm finding are pretty concentrated in the cheese department and although I won't forego dairy, cutting back wouldn't hurt with respect to other recipes. Don't cut back on this one. Ricotta and cottage cheese give it a wonderful texture and build on it's already zesty flavour. 

Adapted From: http://simply-delicious.co.za

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 2 large eggplants, sliced into ½ inch slices
• Olive oil, for brushing

Ricotta Filling 

• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 2 T each fresh mint, parsley and basil, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 1 chilli, finely chopped (optional)

Tomato sauce 

• 1 28 oz tin of whole tomatoes
• 1 red onion, roughly chopped
• 1 garlic clove, sliced
• 1 t sugar
• 2 t salt
• 2 t dried Italian herbs
• Black pepper, to taste
• Grated asiago, for topping

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 400F.

Start by grilling the eggplant. Simply brush each eggplant slice with olive oil and place on a very hot pan. Grill for 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and set aside. Continue until all the eggplant slices have been grilled.

To make the filling, simply combine all the ingredients and mix well.

Before making the involtini, make the tomato sauce. I use my food processor for this but you could use a hand blender or just finely chop everything and mix. I place all the ingredients in my food processor and blend until the sauce is relatively smooth.

Pour the tomato sauce in the bottom of an oven-proof dish.

To make the involtini, place a dollop of the ricotta filling onto a slice of eggplant and roll up.  Place in the tomato sauce and continue until all the eggplant slices have been used.

If you have any filling left over you can dollop it on top of the eggplant slices.

Scatter the grated asiago over the top and place in the oven.

Allow to bake for 15-20 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and serve with grilled bread and a green salad.