Grandma’s Eggplant Rollatini

As a welcome gift into my husband’s family I received his Grandma’s cookbook — both coming from an Italian family, you have to understand how important this is. It’s unspoken but I’m expected to learn (and master!) as much as I can. Luckily, I enjoy cooking! Earlier this week I gave eggplant rollatini, except I breaded the eggplant rather than just coating it with a egg wash and flour.

Ingredients

• 1 small eggplant, peeled, cut long-ways and sliced thin
• 2 large eggs
• Italian breadcrumbs
• Olive oil
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 4 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
• Fresh mozzarella
• Marinara (see the recipe I used here)

Directions

1. Grease a 9 x 12 baking dish and preheat oven at 350 degrees.
2. Dredge each eggplant slice in egg, then in the breadcrumbs – pile them on a large plate.
   
3. Fry the eggplant in a large skillet over medium-high heat (note: soak up the finished slices by laying the eggplant with paper towels on a large plate).
   
4. Mix ricotta and chopped parsley in a small bowl; slice the mozzarella into thin, small pieces.
5. Place a slice of mozzarella and about 1 tsp (or however much you like!) of the ricotta mixture on an eggplant slice.
6. Roll the eggplant and place it seam-side down into baking dish – repeat for each eggplant slice.
7. Spoon marinara sauce over eggplant and if you like, crumble mozzarella on top.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes.