Eggplant Involtini Recipe
Eggplant Involtini is a baked dish featuring tender roasted eggplant slices filled with a creamy ricotta mixture and topped with fresh basil and Parmesan, all served over a lightly spiced tomato sauce. The eggplant rounds soften in the oven, making them pliable enough to roll around the ricotta filling. The tomato sauce includes garlic, diced tomatoes, and a touch of balsamic vinegar, providing acidity and a subtle sweetness that balances the rich cheese filling. This dish offers a layered texture of soft eggplant, creamy filling, and bright sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 large eggplant globe variety
- olive oil for drizzling
- ¼ teaspoon salt sea salt
- ½ cup Parmesan Cheese plus extra to serve, grated
- ½ cup basil plus extra to serve
Tomato Sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon salt sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 28 ounce diced tomatoes canned
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Ricotta Filling
- 1 cup ricotta cheese whole milk
- ½ cup Parmesan Cheese grated
- lemon juice juice from 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon thyme fresh leaves
- salt to taste, sea salt
- black pepper to taste, sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut the tops and bottoms off the eggplants and then thinly slice them lengthwise into 4-5 slices each. Drizzle them with the olive oil and sprinkle with the sea salt. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until soft.
- While the eggplants are roasting, prepare the rest of the meal. Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized pot over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add all the other tomato sauce ingredients and bring the pot to a boil. Reduce the heat to a gently simmer.
- In a medium-sized bowl, stir all the ricotta filling ingredients together.
To assemble the easy eggplant involtini
- When the eggplants come out of the oven, set them aside to cool for a minute. Keep the oven on. Pour the tomato sauce into a baking dish.
- Divide the ricotta filling between the eggplant slices, heaping the filling on the wide end of the eggplant, and top with the basil. Carefully roll the eggplant around the filling and place, seam-side down, in the tomato sauce in the baking dish.
- Sprinkle the parmesan over the top and bake in the oven until bubbly, about 15 minutes. Serve with extra parmesan and some basil sprinkled over the top.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 4 servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 378
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 1 serving = ¼ of the recipe | |
| Calories | 378kcal | 19% |
| Carbohydrates | 27g | 9% |
| Protein | 21g | 42% |
| Fat | 23g | 35% |
| Saturated Fat | 11g | 55% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 2g | 12% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 10g | 50% |
| Cholesterol | 53mg | 18% |
| Sodium | 1061mg | 44% |
| Potassium | 1031mg | 22% |
| Fiber | 9g | 36% |
| Sugar | 14g | 28% |
| Vitamin A | 965IU | 19% |
| Vitamin C | 30mg | 33% |
| Calcium | 500mg | 50% |
| Iron | 3mg | 17% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.