Eggplant Involtini.
I took globe, little fat, round eggplants.
I still salt them,
although most of the bitterness has been bred out of them.
And then I spray it with non-aerosol EVOO
to give it a very thin coating.
I do not fry the eggplant in any way, shape, or form.
I just roast it at a 425 oven.
After the salting and the resting,
few minutes on kitchen towels,
I then put on my sister's favorite spice blend.
Maria likes her eggplant to taste like sausage
because Maria doesn't like to eat sausage.
Yep, you heard me.
So,
I take fennel, hot pepper,
granulated onion, granulated garlic.
A little thyme, a little ground sage.
And we sprinkle that over all of the eggplant
and we roast it until it's brown.
So, in this bowl,
I have locally made,
but you can buy it anywhere in America, ricotta cheese.
Either sheep's milk or cow's milk.
For every four people, allow about two cups of ricotta.
And then we put in, eh,
about a,
a good, fat cup of shredded mozzarella.
I used fior de latte,
it's like a sweeter mozzarella.
And then a half a cup each of pecorino,
which is sheep's milk, grated cheese.
Romano cheese, right, you guys know that.
And parmesan, or Parmigiano-Reggiano.
I'm using Parmigiano-Reggiano.
A good, fat handful of each.
So those are the four cheeses we're gonna put inside
the eggplant, once it is roasted.
What about the sauce, Rach?
This is food processor marinara.
So, we take two pounds
of fresh peeled tomatoes,
or
a large can of whole or diced Italian tomatoes.
And maybe a half a cup to a cup of tomato sauce, or passata.
And I have one tiny onion,
one fat clove of garlic.
A fat drizzle of olive oil, a handful of basil.
Fresh oregano, eh, a teaspoon of dried, tablespoon of fresh.
Okay?
Handful of basil,
and a little handful of prezzemolo, or parsley.
Okay?
A sprinkle, just a little sprinkle,
red pepper flake or ground red pepper, your choice.
And a sprinkle of salt.
A fat drizzle of EVOO.
Olive oil, eh, two and a half, three tablespoons, okay?
Now, we pop the lid on.
(machine whirring)
This is making the sauce.
Then we dump it in a pot and let it cook out over low.
Okay, guys.
So here's our world's fastest, easiest, marinara.
We're gonna take our eggplant once it's cool.
And just line 'em up so we can fill 'em up.
If they're very thin pieces, I kind of double 'em.
And then this is our four cheese mixture.
It looks a little healthier
because I added a touch of parsley from the garden, so-
(quiet laughing)
And now all we're going to do,
is put a few fat tablespoons in each
slice of eggplant, and give it a wrap and a roll.
And set it into sauce.
(lively upbeat music)
All right, then we just hit it with a little extra sauce.
And then that grated parm,
just put a little sprinkle down over the top.
And when you're ready to cook it off,
pop the oven on 400,
and they're done when they look done.
When the edges are nice and bubbly
and the cheese is a lightly brown.
That is a lot of eggplant.
Then I just tear, when you're ready to serve,
a few leaves of basil down over the top.