One of our favorite dishes is eggplant Parmesan. Eggplant is really very versatile and is used in a number of cuisines. It takes on the flavors of whatever ingredients it’s been cooked with. It is a great source of vitamins and minerals and fiber. And it’s low in calories (until you bread it and fry it and cover it with sauce and cheese). For all the vegetable haters out there, eggplant is actually a fruit. According to Wikipedia, the eggplant is not only a fruit, it is a berry.

If you google eggplant recipes you will find an infinite number of ways to prepare it. It’s great grilled, baked, fried, or roasted. It can be served as an appetizer, a side dish, an entree, or you can use it in place of pasta in a lasagna. Raw, the flesh is spongy and soft, and when it’s cooked it is deliciously creamy and tender. Several years ago, before it closed, I regularly shopped at a gourmet shop called Blackberry Rose. The owner told me how to prepare eggplant rollups stuffed with angel hair pasta tossed in a light tomato sauce and then topped with a sweet chili sauce before baking. I need to try that again sometime soon. It was delicious! These rollups are stuffed with ground beef, ground pork, or sausage, and then baked much like eggplant Parmesan.

It is not necessary to peel eggplant. If you are going to be frying eggplant it is best to slice it, generously salt it, and place it in a colander to drain for 30 minutes or so. Then rinse the eggplant and gently pat it dry. This prevents the eggplant from absorbing too much of the oil as it’s fried.

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant

2 eggs

2 T of olive oil

1 pound of ground beef, ground pork, or sausage

1 small onion grated

1/2 sweet bell pepper finely diced

Salt and pepper

Tomato sauce of your choosing (homemade or prepared)

Mozzarella cheese

Making lengthwise cuts, use a mandolin to get nice thin slices of the eggplant.

Put your eggplant slices in a colander, salt them, and set them in the sink to drain. In the meantime, prepare your stuffing for the roll ups. If you are using links of sausage remove the casings and add the grated onion and minced sweet peppers. If you are using ground beef or ground pork. in addition to the onion and peppers, you will want to add some garlic powder, Italian seasonings, and salt and pepper.

Once the eggplant has drained, rinse it and pat it dry. Whisk the eggs. Brush a heavy skillet with a light coating of olive oil. Dip the eggplant slices in the egg and cook them over medium high heat, two to thee minutes per side. Set the cooked slices aside and continue until all of the slices are browned. They should be soft and pliable, easy to roll.

Preheat the oven to 350. Once all of the eggplant slices are done begin making your rollups. Place a light coating of sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 casserole dish. Take approximately two tablespoons of the meat mixture and place it on the widest end of the eggplant slice and roll.

Place the rollups, seam side down, in the casserole dish.

Top the rollups with additional sauce, sprinkle on some mozzarella cheese, and bake for 45-50 minutes, until the meat is cooked through and the cheese is golden.

Cooked to perfection. Serve with the pasta of your choosing and a side salad. Some crusty bread and Chianti would also be nice.

Enjoy!

NOTE: On one occasion I tried dipping the eggplant slices in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs before frying. While this works great when you’re making eggplant Parmesan, it makes the eggplant difficult to roll up.

When using sweet or hot Italian sausage to fill these rollups no additional seasoning is necessary. If you’re using ground beef or ground pork you’ll want to kick up the flavor with more herbs and spices.

From one medium eggplant I got 13 slices and I used one pound of sausage to fill them.