In my family, eggplant rollatini is a staple at Christmas dinner, but the traditional version includes breading and frying the eggplant.  So to keep this dish a little more healthy (and bikini season friendly) I grill the eggplant.  It makes the dish so much more light and fresh!  This dish is perfect alongside some pasta and eaten outside on a beautiful summer evening 🙂

PS I'm sorry I don't have a fabulous picture…. It just got too dark : (

Grilled Eggplant Rollatini

Serves 4

What you'll need:

1 large eggplant

tomato sauce (your recipe or mine)

12 basil leaves

about a cup of ricotta cheese (try making yours from scratch)

1 ball of fresh mozzarella

What you'll do:

Cut the ends off the eggplant and slice thinly lengthwise.  Place the slices in a strainer and sprinkle with salt.  Let sit for 15-20 minutes.  Make your tomato sauce by following this recipe or yours.  

**Super secret! When I make my tomato sauce in the summer, I add a secret ingredient for some bright, fresh flavor.  I dice up some sun dried tomatoes and stir them in.  They will plump up in the sauce and add the perfect amount of sweet tomato.

Back to the recipe!  Pat the eggplant dry and grill inside or outside.  Just make sure to use some olive oil on then so they don't stick.

Time to assemble: In a 9 X 9 baking dish, place about a 1/4 cup of tomato sauce in the bottom and spread around.  This will keep the eggplant from sticking to the dish.  On a flat workspace, lay a slice of eggplant out and place a basil leaf down, top that with a dollop of ricotta, followed by a piece of mozzarella.  Roll them up and place them, seam side down, in the baking dish.

When you fill the dish, cover with a few more spoonfuls of cheese and top with the rest of the mozzarella.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Enjoy!

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