Like most Italian dishes I make, this is a Lidia recipe.
The recipe starts with 2 eggplants thinly sliced lengthwise. I always salt the slices of eggplant and lay them on paper towel-lined baking sheets to drain. Supposedly this takes some of the bitterness out of the eggplant:
While the eggplant is doing its thing I made the filling:
... which is 3 cups of ricotta cheese mixed with chopped parsley, salt, pepper and Pecorino cheese. Taste and adjust the seasonings before adding 1 beaten egg. I also made a quick tomato sauce using 2 cans of tomatoes, finely minced carrot, celery and onion, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Then I set up an assembly line:
... of a sauce-lined baking dish, basil and mozzarella cut into sticks. SP was in charge of frying the eggplant:
He dredged the slices in flour and then in egg before adding them to the hot oil. I love how crispy the outside gets:
Then it was my turn to roll the rollatini. You add about 2 tablespoons of the ricotta filling to each slice, top with a stick of mozzarella and some basil:
... then roll and place, seam-side down, into the baking dish. Repeat with each slice of eggplant until the dish is full.
We ended up needing a large 9 x 13" dish and another small dish to fit all the eggplant. Once you're done rolling, top the rollatini with the remainder of the sauce and some grated cheese:
Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving:
We had ours with salad my mother made:
... which included lettuce, tomato, cucumber, radish, croutons, sprouts, dried cranberries and pine nuts in a mustard vinaigrette.
Oh my gosh, what a lot of work! Appears well worth the effort, your meal looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteLooks absolutely yummy!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness these look amazing. I'm TOTALLY serious when I say I'm going to have to make these. I starred them to make when DH gets home. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteLisaRene - It's a process, but the end result is well worth it. The taste is just amazing.
ReplyDeleteLeica - Thanks. :)
Katie - Thanks! I'm particularly proud of that first picture. :) If you try it you have to let me know how it turns out.
If you're left handed can you set up the assembly line backward?
ReplyDeleteyum yum yum
ReplyDeleteI love this dish too but because of all the work, lazy me has only made it once.
longhair - Of course! :P
ReplyDeleteDani - We made it a bunch of times about 3 years ago, but then stopped because it was so labor-intensive. I've been meaning to make it for the blog for almost a year now and finally got around to it this weekend. It's so good and well worth the effort!
my first reaction to this is just WOW. what a great job you guys did. these seriously look *amazing*.
ReplyDeletetold one of my best friends on the phone last night about this post and she went crazy over the idea - I sent her your link!
ReplyDeleteMelissa - Thanks! I was pretty excited about that first photo, too. Not to mention the dish itself was incredible. :)
ReplyDelete