Stuffed Eggplant Rolls

I’m always trying to find new ways to get my family to eat vegetables. Usually… I fail miserably. Visions of summer squash casseroles with Quiona and tofu have flown out of my mind. This week, I decided to make a dish using things I know my family likes, but add something new. This weeks mission: introduce my family to eggplant. Mainly, this was my mission because eggplant was on sale for $0.88!! Not only did I succeed in convincing my family that eggplant is good, but I think I have a new favorite meal! I can’t take 100% of the credit for this idea. I based this idea loosely from a recipe I read in a Weight Watchers cookbook but I made changes to make it more realistic for my family and to give it more flavor.

The first step is to prepare the eggplant.

• Peel the skin of one eggplant using a vegetable peeler. Chop off the top and the bottom and then slice the eggplant vertically into 8 slices.
• Lay the slices on a baking sheet lined with foil sprayed with cooking spray.
• Spray the eggplant with the cooking spray and sprinkle the slices with a little salt and pepper.
• Broil the eggplant until it’s a dark, golden-brown (about 4 minutes) just one one side.
• Set the eggplant aside to cool.

Now for the filling! In a skillet, heat 1T of olive oil and cook:

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 carrot, grated
• 2 cloves pressed garlic

Cook this until the vegetables are soft and the onion is translucent.

Set this aside and in a small bowl, combine:

• 15 ounces low-fat ricotta cheese
• 1/2 t oregano
• 1/2 t pepper
• 2T fresh basil, chopped
• 1/2 t salt

Add the sauteed vegetables to the ricotta mixture and mix well.

Now it’s time to assemble!

• First spread about 1/3 C marinara sauce from a 24-ounce jar on the bottom of a 9X13 baking dish.

• Put about 1/4 C of the ricotta/vegetable mixture in the middle of the cooked eggplant

• Roll the eggplant around the mixture and place it seam-side down in the baking dish.
• Do this with the remaining eggplant pieces and ricotta mixture.

• Pour the remaining marinara sauce over the eggplant and top with 1C Italian shredded cheese blend.

• Bake this a 350 degrees for about 30 minutes of until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly.

In the meantime:

• Cook 10 ounces (dry) of pasta. We used vegetable blend rotini.
• Put 1/4 of the pasta on a plate and top with 2 eggplant rolls and sauce for each serving.