Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Italian Stuffed Eggplant


Photo by Morgan Irene. Flickr

Even though summer's coming to an end, my garden is still continuing to produce an abundance of large purple and white eggplant. As the days begin to shorten and the evenings become crisper, our bodies start to crave heartier meals. Serving this recipe up as a main dish for either your family or dinner guests, will most definitely satisfy this craving.

Ingredients;

Cooking Spray

Flour

4 large beaten eggs

Italian style bread crumbs

2/3 cups parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

2 medium eggplants, sliced lengthwise about 1/3 inch thick

3 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

1/3 cups of ricotta cheese

1 cup of chopped fresh basil

4 or more cups of marinara sauce, either purchased or homemade

Preheat oven to 350. Spray some baking sheets with cooking spray. Place your flour in one bowl, the beaten eggs in another bowl and your bread crumbs in the last bowl, mixed with about 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. Cut the eggplant in slices and sprinkle with salt and pepper, then coat each slice with flour, egg and bread crumbs. As you finish with each piece, place them in a single layer on the baking sheet. When your sheets are full, place them in your oven and turn after 15 minutes. Total cooking time should take 30 minutes or til they are golden. After the eggplant is done, remove them from the oven and let them cool completely while they are still on the sheets.

Mix ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, 1 cup of parmesan cheese and basil in a bowl. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste, then mix it all together. Take an eggplant slice and spread an even layer of cheese mixture on top of the slice, then roll eggplant starting at the small end, til the filling is completely enclosed and a roll is formed. Continue this procedure til all your slices are filled.

After you are done making all your rolls, take a large baking dish and fill the bottom of the dish with sauce. Place the rolls in the dish. After the dish is full, pour some sauce over the top of the rolls. Sprinkle parmesan cheese and mozzarella over the top, then place the dish in the oven uncovered. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or til heated through.





6 comments:

Anonymous said...

That picture is gorgeous. I love purple and those colors just pop! I won't embarrass myself and tell you I've never eaten eggplant... oh. Maybe I just did. ;)

Anonymous said...

Wow - Lydia!

The purple in the foreground and shiny lilac in the background is dashing. Those colors are gorgeous.

The recipe sounds tasty. I will try it some of these days.

Do you know "moussaka"?
It is an eggplant dish of Greek origin and tastes very good, too.

Olivia

Lydia said...

Hi Sue, I know Many people who have never eaten eggplant. If your ever out dining and would like to give eggplant a try, I suggest ordering eggplant parm, if they offer it on the menu.

Lydia said...

Hi Olivia, I have never heard of Moussaka, but I would love to try it. Greek food is so good. We have some great greek restaurants where I'm from. Next time I go I'll look for it on the menu. I always order the stuffed grape leaves.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Lydia, I also like the stuffed grape leaves with rice. When I was a student at the University of Heidelberg, I often went to a Greek restaurant in the vicinity of my seminar building. I have many pleasant memories of it.

cheryl sigler said...

lydia i just happen to find your site and needed to know how to preserve my herbs (many) i am a first time gardener i also have tomatillos i have tried makeing salsa and chilles a mongst other veg. includeing eggplant etc. i am so EXCITED i found your site and hope i can learn from you thnks i am gonna try your basil preserving now and read more on your suggestings