Aubergine Rollatini
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Great as a starter or main - aubergines baked with three cheeses in a rich, silky tomato sauce and topped with a lemony crust. Too good.
Serves:2 people
Ingredients
- 2-3 aubergines you can get 3-5 rolls out of each aubergine. See notes.
- 1-2 mozzarella - shredded
- 300 g ricotta
- 12 slices approx prosciutto optional
- 150 g parmesan - finely grated
- 400 g fresh tomatoes - roughly chopped or tinned equivalent
- 1 carrot - grated
- 1 small onion - finely chopped
- 1 rib celery (finely sliced including leaves) or bunch of parsely (roughly chopped)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp concentrated tomato paste
- 1 tsp chilli flakes or small fresh chilli optional
- fresh basil leaves (save some for serving)
- 2 cloves garlic - roughly chopped
- 1 handful breadcrumbs
- 1 lemon lemon zested - 2 tsp
- olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Finely slice the aubergines (lengthways). Sprinkle with salt and set aside while you make the tomato sauce. Preheat the oven to 180 °C
- In a large saucepan, over medium heat, sauté the onion, celery (or parsley) and one clove of garlic. Add the bay leaf and the chilli (if using). When soft and golden, add the tomatoes. Add a splash of wine and cook until the vegetables are tender and soft. Taste for seasoning and add the concentrated tomato paste (if needed), salt and pepper. Bring back to a quick boil. Either pass through an Italian food mill, sieve or blend with a stick blender. Add a little water/stock if the sauce is too thick and set it aside. If you choose the stick blender, you will need to remove the tomato skins and any tough core.
- Whizz 50g of the parmesan with the breadcrumbs, garlic clove and lemon rind.
- Dust the salt off the aubergines and dry them with a paper towel. Either roast them on lined baking sheets, drizzled with olive oil. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, turning and flipping halfway through. Alternatively, drizzle the aubergines with olive oil and grill them on a griddle pan, again turning halfway through. Cook until soft.
- Mix a teaspoon of lemon zest, a generous grating of black pepper and the remaining Parmesan with the ricotta. Spread each aubergine with a couple of teaspoons of the ricotta mix. If using, lay a slice of prosciutto on top. Roll the aubergine slice and place it in the baking tray with the 'seam' facing down.
- Continue with all the aubergine slices. Ideally they should fit into your baking tray nice and snuggly.
- Pour the tomato sauce around the rolls - it should come about half way up. Tuck in a few basil leaves.
- Sprinkle the whole thing with the Parmesan and lemon breadcrumbs, and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until the tomato sauce begins to caramelise around the edges of the dish.
Notes
For a main course or light lunch, allow at least one large aubergine per person. Depending on how thin you can slice them, you can get up to 5 slices per aubergine, but I tend to discard the skin sides as they are difficult to roll.
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