If you are trying to eat healthy, eggplant rollatini may be a dish you have to cut. Not the case! This easy and healthy recipe won’t disappoint!
And when I say easy, I’m not kidding. If I can make it, anyone can.
I’m not being modest, I just honestly don’t cook. My husband handles that in our house. In fact, he’s been gone this week for a business trip and I ate quinoa with chickpeas for dinner every night.
No, I’m not kidding. And yes, I agree- It’s ridiculous.
So now that you know my level of expertise, I’m sure you’re feeling a little bit better about giving this recipe a try!!
Also please note, I didn’t come up with this on my own. I got it from one of my favorite recipe blogs, Gina Homolka’s skinnytaste.
If you haven’t checked out her blog yet, you’ll love it. She has a great recipe key and searchable index that makes finding what you are looking for really easy. My favorites are “Under 30 Minutes” and “Low Carb”, but she also has everything from “Kid Friendly” to “Paleo”.
Plus, everything comes with the calorie count and weight watchers points. This woman is amazing!
Best Skinny Eggplant Rollatini with Spinach
You’ll need:
- 2 medium Italian eggplants, cut lengthwise into 10 (1/4-inch thick) slices
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 1/2 cups of marinara sauce (I use Ragu Light Pasta Sauce, Tomato & Basil, No Sugar. Gina makes her own- of course)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese, plus more for serving (I used Parmesan or Asiago, just because that’s what we normally have in the house)
- 8 oz frozen spinach, heated through and squeezed well (Like really well. If you don’t squeeze the hell out of it the recipe suffers)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella
Directions:
- Cut the 2 ends off the eggplants. Cut the eggplants lengthwise, into 1/4-inch thick slices until you have a total of 10 slices about the same size. I always have plenty of eggplants to work with so don’t stress about throwing out the ones you didn’t cut right. Lean toward skinnier cuts, as think ones are hard to roll.
- Sprinkle the eggplant with kosher salt to help remove excess moisture and bitterness from the eggplants. Set aside for about 10 to 15 minutes. Pat dry with a towel.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Season the eggplant with a little more salt and pepper, then arrange on two parchment-lined baking sheets. Cover tightly with foil and bake until eggplant is tender and pliable but NOT fully cooked, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Spread 1/4 cup marinara sauce on the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.
- In a medium bowl, beat the egg then mix together with ricotta, Pecorino Romano, spinach, garlic, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper.
- Pat eggplant dry with paper towels. Dividing the ricotta-spinach mixture (about 2 generous tablespoons each) evenly and spoon onto one end of each eggplant slice, spreading to cover. Starting at the short end, roll up slices and arrange them each seam side down in the prepared dish. Top with remaining marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese and tightly cover with foil.
- Bake until the eggplant is very tender, about 60 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes before serving with additional Pecorino Romano, if desired.
And that’s it. Amazingly simple right? I’m not kidding when I stay my husband thinks I’m Giada De Laurentiis when I bust this recipe out.
So enjoy this beautiful fall weekend and maybe give this recipe a try. At the very least, poke around skinnytaste. I’m eyeing a few slow cooker recipes I need to try.
Even I need a break from quinoa!
