Eggplant rollatini is so easy and simple to make but the look of the dish definitely wow your guests!!
Delicious vegetarian dish that can be served as a main or side..
My hubby is a meat lover, but he fell in LOVE with this dish!! He didn’t even realized if it was a vegetarian dish.. lol!
If you want to make it as a vegan, super easy to fix by using vegan ricotta and vegan cheese! Hopefully you give this recipe a try one day!!
Enjoy~
PrintEggplant Rollatini
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 2 to 4 1x
Description
Ingredients
Scale
For the Eggplant
- 1 lb / 453g eggplant, cut into 1/2 to 1/4-inch thin 8 slices
- 1 tsp / 4g salt
- 1/2 tsp / 2g pepper
- 3 Tbs / 45ml olive oil
For the Filling
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- Handful fresh basil, sliced, plus more for garnish
- Zest from 1 fresh lemon
- 1/2 tsp / 2g salt
- 1/4 tsp / 1g pepper
- 3 Tbs / 60g shredded parmigiano cheese
- 1 1/4 cup / 300ml marinara sauce
- 8 oz / 226g mozzarella, shredded or thinly sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F / 220°C
On a parchment lined baking pan, place sliced eggplant in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and olive oil. Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until eggplants are soften. Remove from oven and set aside.
- Meanwhile, combine all ingredients for filing in a mixing bowl and set aside. Spread 1/4 cup of marinara on bottom of a baking dish (possibly 11” x 8”) evenly.
- Place an eggplant slice on a work surface; scoop 1 Tbs of filling we made earlier at one end close to you. Carefully roll eggplant lengthwise and place in prepared baking dish, seam side down. Continue with remaining eggplants and filling.
- Pour remaining marinara (1cup) and top with mozzarella. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until sauce is bubbling and cheese is golden. Remove from oven, let it set for 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped basil if you’d like to. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
28 comments
Looks delicious! Any chance you have the nutrition information?
Hi there 🙂 I tried to figure out the calories for you 🙂 From what I found out of using Calorie King as my main source and choosing the generic option the calorie count comes to 942.5 calories a serve, the whole dish is about 1885 calories total. If you use lower fat ingredients for the ricotta and mozzarella then you can lower it some if you’re watching your calorie intake like I am. Hope that helps 🙂
I LOVE THE EGGPLANT ROLLATINI RECIPE…BUT I HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS….
1) I WAS WONDERING….INSTEAD OF RED MARINARA SAUCE, CAN WE USE A WHITE SAUCE INSTEAD???
DUE TO ME BEING ALLERGIC TO TOMATOES AND RED SAUCE AND NORMALLY EGGS……BUT 1 EGG WILL NOT HURT ME….
THANK YOU….AND GOD BLESS YOUR HEALTHY HANDS..FOR THINKING OF ALL OF YOUR RECIPES..
I think white sauce will work great as well. 🙂 Happy cooking~!
This was pretty good, but I doubt I’ll make it again because eggplant parmigiana blows this away, IMO. I definitely recommend cutting the slices no less than 1/2″ thick, otherwise they tend to tear when you remove them from the baking sheet. I also cut the salt in half for the filling, and used less on the eggplant and it was almost-but-not-quite too salty. On the plus side, these are a lot less work than eggplant parmigiana.
Of course eggplant parmesan blows this recipe away, but it’s a healthier which is why it’s listed as a HEALTHY ALTERNATIVE.
why the lemon zest? doesn’t it make it bitter?
It will give refreshing lemony flavor into it. If you don’t like them, you can omit for your taste. 🙂
Lemon zest is not bitter unless you grate down into to the pith. Thats the white spongy part between the yellow rind and the skin that cover the juice pods. Just grate 2-3 times and turn the lemon to keep grating. Dont grate the same spot twice.
I followed this recipe exactly, except used less salt and squeezed a few drops of the lemon juice. Figured the marinara sauce and cheese had enough salt….it came out delicious! Even my 9 year old grand-daughter loved it! It was so easy and quick. To me it is so much easier and healthier than Eggplant Parmesan, which I love and just as good. This will be a regular meal in our household. Next time I will use lower fat cheeses and add spinach, mushrooms and/or ground turkey. Thank you for a beautiful recipe.
That’s lovely Martha!! So happy to hear even your grand daughter love it..❤️ As you said, Spinach, mushrooms or ground turkey will be amazing addition for this recipe! Happy Cooking~!
Hi! Love this, but was wondering if you can use cottage cheese instead of ricotta?
That should be fine!
Do you think you could make it and before baking freeze it or refrigerate it then bake it the next day? Or would that possibly cause an illness with the egg and cheese? I am going away and wanted to make this a day before then be able to just bake it when we arrive at the home the next day.
Hi Danica,
You can wrap it tightly after arrange the dish and refrigerate up to 2 days or freeze up to 1 month (If frozen, the dish must be thawed completely in the refrigerator, about 24 hours). Hope this helps!
Thought this was delicious and satisfying, didn’t miss the meat. Lemon zest was the key ingredient for me. Only used about 4 oz mozerella and it was perfect. Do think it is important to use a high quality spaghetti sauce such as Victoria’s. Will cut back on the salt next time and choose light ricotta. Thanks for sharing!
Sounds healthy!!! So glad you will try again, happy cooking Kim~!
I love your recipes but this one has a deep flaw. Lemon zest just does not blend with ANY of the other ingredients. It’s like adding zest to eggplant parm. It’s a non-starter. I used it in my recipe/prep and “something” just wasn’t right. Bitterness that argued with the ricotta and the other cheese. It was the zest. To each….
Hi Brian,
you can leave out the lemon zest if you don’t like the flavor with the dish. Some says actually lemon zest is the best part, but it’s really personal taste preference! 😉
What brand did you use for marinara sauce. I have yet to find a good store bought marinara sauce brand 😓
I got it form costco! Don’t remember the level name… sorry!! But I do have a marinara recipe, if you want to make it from scratch! https://seonkyounglongest.com/easy-marinara-sauce/
Rao’s Marinara is my choice of a sauce in a jar…
★★★★★
I loved the lemon zest and my husband particularly liked the addition. I made it with part skim mozzarella and ricotta. My calculations were that the entire dish was about 515 calories. If I’m wrong, don’t tell me!
You said the whole dish is about 1885 calories. In that case if it feeds four there is only 471 calories per serving. We call this Eggplant Milano have been making for sometime now. For the person asking about a good Marinara Sauce Pastene has one its label Pastene – Chateau’s Marinara Sauce. Taste homemade.
This sounds delicious! I’m going to make it this week! I’m just not sure how to do the eggplant slices. Any suggestions?
If you score where you want to cut the eggplant before slicing it makes it easier to get the right size. It may help lying it on its side too instead of slicing top to bottom. I cant wait to make this. Looks very good!
Hello! Was wondering if there’s something else I could use in place of the egg?
Loved this recipe! Even the kids ate enjoyed it!
★★★★★