Eggplant Rollatini With Creamy Ricotta and Bubbling Marinara

It is 7:05 on a Friday, you have candles you will not admit to owning, and you want a dinner that looks like it came from a restaurant with a wait list. This eggplant rollatini recipe rolls creamy ricotta into tender eggplant, buries the rolls in marinara and mozzarella, and takes about 51 minutes, most of it hands-off. It is a very good dinner for two, if you are into that sort of thing.

It looks like you tried much harder than you did, and we will not tell.

Each strip of eggplant becomes a little wrapper for a ricotta and parmesan filling. You roll, you tuck the rolls seam side down in a dish of sauce, and the oven does the flirting while you pour the wine. The eggplant goes soft, the ricotta goes warm and creamy, and the cheese on top turns into the part everyone fights over.

How to make it

1. Slice both 2 medium eggplants lengthwise into thin strips, about 8 minutes of prep.
2. Sprinkle the slices with salt and let them sit 10 minutes, then pat dry.
3. Grill or bake the eggplant slices 4 minutes per side until flexible.
4. Mix the 2 cups ricotta cheese with half of the 0.5 cups grated parmesan in a bowl.
5. Spread the ricotta mixture on each eggplant slice and roll up tightly.
6. Spread 1 cup of the 2 cups marinara sauce in the bottom of a baking dish.
7. Arrange the rolls seam side down in the dish and top with the remaining 1 cup marinara sauce plus the 1 cup shredded mozzarella and remaining parmesan.
8. Bake at 375 degrees F for 25 minutes until bubbly.

Notes

The first job is slicing both eggplants lengthwise into thin strips, so they bend without cracking. Sprinkle them with salt and leave them for 10 minutes, then pat them dry. Next, grill or bake the strips for 4 minutes per side until they are flexible. They should bend like a soft tortilla, not snap, so if a strip fights you when you try to roll it, it needs another minute.

For the filling, stir the ricotta with half of the grated parmesan, keeping the other half for the top. Spread a layer on each strip, roll it up tightly, and set it seam side down on a bed of sauce. Spread one cup of the marinara in the dish first, then top the rolls with the second cup, the shredded mozzarella and the rest of the parmesan.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 25 minutes, until bubbling at the edges. You can assemble the dish in advance and keep it covered in the fridge until you are ready to bake, which makes it a good candidate for a date night where you would rather be at the table than at the stove.

Leftovers of this eggplant rollatini recipe keep three to four days in the fridge, per USDA FSIS. The rolls reheat well in the oven, and the flavor settles into the sauce by day two. Freezing the baked rolls works, but ricotta can turn grainy after thawing, so fridge leftovers give you a better texture.

Swipe this into your week and SwipeCart's agent puts the ricotta, eggplant and marinara in the cart, so the closest you come to a grocery run is checking the fridge for wine.

Swaps that actually work

The eggplant and the ricotta are the point of this eggplant rollatini recipe, so leave both alone. The rest can flex.

A jar of marinara is the easy route, and a favorite jarred sauce works just as well as one you simmered yourself. If you only have fresh mozzarella, slice it thin and pat it dry first, since it holds more water than the shredded kind. You can use another firm cheese on the top, such as provolone, but then you are making a slightly different dish.

If you do not have a grill, bake the strips on a sheet pan, which is exactly what the method allows. A grill pan on the stovetop also works and gives the strips pretty char marks, which look great against the sauce.

Keep the strips thin. A mandoline helps, but a sharp knife and some patience are fine.

The swap that costs you the dish is a drier, lower fat ricotta, which gives you a denser, less creamy filling. Whole milk ricotta is the one that makes this eggplant rollatini recipe taste the way it looks.

If it goes wrong

The eggplant strips tear when you roll them. They were still too stiff. Return them to the oven or grill for another minute or two until they bend easily, and handle them gently while they are warm.

The rolls unravel in the dish. They were not placed seam side down, or the filling was overstuffed. Tuck them snugly side by side, seam down, so they hold each other in place. If one still opens up, press a toothpick through it.

The sauce is watery. The eggplant was not patted dry after salting, or the strips were not cooked through first. Let the dish rest a few minutes after it comes out of the oven, since the liquid settles and thickens as it cools, and spoon any extra sauce over each plate.

It tastes flat. Almost always salt. Taste the ricotta mixture before you fill the strips, and season the marinara if it needs it. A pinch of black pepper in the filling makes a bigger difference than you would expect.

What to serve with it

The default is a green salad and some warm bread to mop up the sauce. The better version is a bright salad with lemon, since the acid keeps all that cheese from weighing the plate down. A bowl of garlicky pasta on the side turns this into a bigger, cozier spread.

The thing in the fridge that lifts it is a handful of fresh basil or parsley, torn and scattered on top at the end.

It works as lunch the next day, reheated gently in the oven. Cold from the fridge it is also fine, if you were not planning on sharing.

Why this one earns its place

This eggplant rollatini recipe is the one you make when you want the plate to say something nice about you. It looks elegant, it tastes like comfort, and it does not demand a chef's schedule: the work is slicing, salting, rolling and waiting.

It also holds up when the plans change. It feeds four as written, and it halves easily if it is just the two of you. Put it on the table with candles you will pretend not to own.

Swipe it into your week and the agent shops everything else. If you are hunting for more cheesy, oven-baked comfort, try Cheesy Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Shells, the Olive Garden Style Lasagna, and our guide to meal planning for couples.

More like this: all Italian recipes in Crave Corner.