The Best Eggplant Rollatini
Prep
30m
Cook
40m
Total
70m
Bigly says
Sit down for this one. Eggplant rollatini. The BEST eggplant rollatini, the greatest eggplant rollatini in the history of eggplant — and there has been a LOT of eggplant, the Italians have been doing this for centuries, the Greeks were doing it before them, the Persians were doing it before the Greeks. An old Italian woman cornered me once in a market in Palermo and made me promise to do it this way. Her exact words. I'm honoring the promise. That's the kind of guy I am.
Most eggplant rollatini is SOGGY. A wet little log of sadness bleeding water all over the plate, dragging the sauce down with it like a sinking ship. Disgraceful. I went to a restaurant once — I won't say which one, I'm a gentleman, but it was the kind of place with valet parking and a host who corrects your pronunciation — and they served me a rollatini that was 80% water. EIGHTY PERCENT. I sent it back. The chef cried. He should have cried. He earned that. If your chef can't handle eggplant, find a new chef. Hands down.
Mine is different. Mine is tremendous. We salt the eggplant — that's the secret, that's the whole game, and most cookbook authors are afraid to insist on it because they don't want to scare you off with a thirty-minute step. I'm not afraid. I'll scare you. Salt it, sweat it, DRY it, roast it. Then we roll it around a ricotta filling so creamy it could win awards, if there were awards for ricotta, and there should be — somebody needs to start that, I'd judge it, I'd be the fairest judge in the building. Bake the whole thing under bubbling mozzarella and red sauce. That's a dish. That's dinner. End of discussion.
Ingredients
- 2large eggplants(the heavy, glossy ones — light spongy eggplants are a scam)
- 2 tbsp, plus more to tastekosher salt
- 1/3 cupolive oil
- 15 ozwhole-milk ricotta(drain it in a sieve for 10 minutes if it looks watery)
- 1large egg
- 3/4 cup, dividedgrated Parmesan
- 1/4 cupfresh basil, chopped
- 2 tbspfresh parsley, chopped
- 2 clovesgarlic, grated
- 1/2 tspblack pepper
- 1 pinchnutmeg, freshly grated
- 3 cupsgood marinara sauce(homemade if you have it, jarred if you respect yourself enough to read labels)
- 2 cupslow-moisture mozzarella, shredded
- small handfulfresh basil leaves (for garnish)
Steps
- 1
Trim the eggplants and slice lengthwise into 1/4-inch planks — you want 12 to 14 long slices total. A mandoline makes this easy.
- 2
Lay slices in a single layer on a wire rack or paper towels. Sprinkle both sides generously with salt and let sit 30 minutes. Beads of water will form on the surface.
- 3
Heat oven to 425°F (220°C). Blot the eggplant dry with paper towels — really dry, push hard.
- 4
Brush both sides of each slice lightly with olive oil and arrange on two parchment-lined sheet pans. Roast 15-18 minutes, flipping halfway, until pliable and lightly golden. Cool until handleable.
- 5
Meanwhile, make the filling: in a bowl, stir together ricotta, egg, 1/2 cup Parmesan, basil, parsley, garlic, pepper, and nutmeg. Taste and add a small pinch of salt if needed.
- 6
Reduce oven to 400°F (200°C). Spread 1 cup marinara across the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
- 7
Working one slice at a time, place 2 heaping tablespoons of ricotta filling near one end of an eggplant plank, roll it up, and place seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat with remaining slices.
- 8
Spoon remaining 2 cups marinara over and around the rolls. Scatter mozzarella evenly across the top, then finish with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan.
- 9
Bake 25-30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling at the edges and the cheese is melted with golden spots. If you want more color, broil 2 minutes — watch it like a hawk.
- 10
Rest 10 minutes before serving. Top with fresh basil leaves.
One more thing
You let it rest. Always let it rest. People are impatient — they pull it out of the oven, they slice into it immediately, the cheese slides off, the sauce runs everywhere, a total catastrophe, a SAD scene at the table. Ten minutes. Ten lousy minutes and you get clean slices, bubbling sauce holding its place, ricotta still creamy in the middle. Serve it with a salad and crusty bread and watch your guests go completely silent at the table. Real silence. The greatest compliment a cook can ever get, and you're going to get it. Now go eat.
★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★
Ask Bigly about The Best Eggplant Rollatini.
Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.
★ MORE LIKE THIS ★
KEEP COOKING.
Tremendous Caprese Sandwich
A real-deal caprese sandwich on toasted ciabatta: fresh mozzarella, heirloom tomato, basil, olive oil, and balsamic glaze. Five-minute summer lunch.
The Best Cauliflower Buffalo Wings
Crispy beer-battered cauliflower florets tossed in classic Buffalo sauce. Game-day perfection with shatter-crisp coating and a deep tangy heat.
Huge Cauliflower Steaks
Thick-cut cauliflower steaks seared until golden, then roasted with garlic and lemon. Served with a bright tahini sauce. Forty minutes start to plate.
Bigly Eggplant Stack
Roasted eggplant stacked with creamy fresh mozzarella, sweet roasted tomato, and bright basil pesto, finished with balsamic glaze and fresh basil.