Eggplant Involtini - Roasted sliced eggplant rolled around a ricotta filling with lemon honey and breadcrumbs; baked in pasta sauce.
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time45 minutesmins
Total Time55 minutesmins
Course: Dinner, Entree, Main Course
Cuisine: American, Italian
Keyword: eggplant involtini
Servings: 4servings
Calories: 262kcal
Author: Amanda Finks
Ingredients
2medium eggplants
¼ - ½tsp.salt
¼ - ½tsp.ground black pepper
½cupItalian seasoned bread crumbs
¾cuppart-skim ricotta cheese
½tsp.salt
¼tsp.ground black pepper
1tsp.lemon zest
2tsp.lemon juice
1tbsp.honey
2cupsprepared marinara,or any traditional pasta sauce
Optional: grated parmesan for topping
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Trim the stems off of the eggplants. Slice the eggplants lengthwise into ¼ inch slices. There should be about 12 slices.
Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray it evenly with cooking spray. Lay the eggplant slices in an even layer on the cookie sheet. Spray the tops of the eggplants evenly with cooking spray. Sprinkle the tops of the eggplant slices evenly with salt and pepper (about ¼ to ½ tsp. of each). Place the cookie sheet in the oven to roast the eggplant. Cook 10 minutes. Flip the eggplant slices over and return to the oven to cook for 10 more minutes.
In the meantime, prepare the filling. In a small bowl, add the breadcrumbs, ricotta, ½ tsp. salt, ¼ tsp. pepper, lemon zest, lemon juice, and honey. Stir until well combined (I used a fork to mash it together).
Once the eggplant is cool enough to handle, place about 2 tbsp. of the ricotta filling on the wide edge of the eggplant slices. Roll the eggplant around the ricotta filling, ending with the seam side underneath.
Add the marinara sauce to the bottom of a baking dish. Nestle the rolled eggplant down into the marinara sauce (again seam side down).
Bake in the 400 degree oven for 25 minutes. Serve warm with some of the marinara sauce spooned on top of each involtini. Garnish with optional parmesan cheese.