Involtini di Melanzane (Rolled Eggplant Bundles)

I had some eggplant left over from making Eggplant Parmesan the other day, so I went online to look for some new eggplant recipes to try out. I found a rather interesting recipe called Involtini di Melanzane. It's basically rolled eggplant with pasta stuffing. I've never heard of this dish before, let alone tried it. So, I was pretty psyched to try it out. It turned out to be really good and I'll definitely make this for dinner again in the very near future. I'm not sure if it's authentic or not, but here's my take on how to make Involtini di Melanzane.

Start off by slicing the eggplants lengthwise into thin slices. Sprinkle salt on both sides of the eggplant slices and place them into a colander. Allow the eggplant slices to sit for about an hour or so. This is done so that we can get as much water out of the eggplants as possible. After about an hour, rinse off the excess salt and pat it dry with a paper towel.
Heat up some oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot, place a couple of eggplant slices into the pan. Be really careful when you do this, cos it will splatter! Also remember not to overcrowd the pan. Fry until the eggplant slices becomes soft and golden brown on both sides.
Remove the eggplant slices from the pan and place them onto some paper towels. This is done so that we can get as much oil out of the eggplant slices as possible. You can put more paper towels on top of the eggplant slices and lightly pat it down too. That will help in removing as much oil as possible. Once you have done that, set the fried eggplant slices aside.
Next, cook up your favorite long pasta. It can be spaghetti, fettuccine, linguine or even angel hair pasta. I used spaghetti and it worked out pretty well. Once your pasta is al dente, drain it and set it aside.
Now it's time to make some pasta sauce. You can just reheat some from a jar or make from scratch using your grandma's favorite pasta sauce recipe. It doesn't really matter. I just reheated some tomato and basil pasta sauce that came in a jar. Once you are done with the pasta sauce, split it into three portions.
Pour the first portion of your pasta sauce into a deep baking dish.
Toss your pasta in the second portion of that pasta sauce and set the third portion of sauce aside. We will use it later on.
Here's when we assemble everything together. Place a slice of eggplant on a flat surface. Scoop up some pasta and place it in the middle of the eggplant slice (just like the photo).
Then, sprinkle on some feta cheese (you could also use mozzarella cheese if you like) onto the pasta. Top if off with a slice of cooked bacon. I used turkey bacon but you can pretty much use any type of bacon that you like. Just make sure that it's not greasy.
Roll up the eggplant and place it on top of the pasta sauce that we placed earlier in the deep baking dish. Make sure that you place the eggplant rolls seam side down, so that it doesn't unravel during cooking.
Once you have finish rolling up all your eggplants, scoop on some pasta sauce (the 3rd portion that we saved earlier) on top of the eggplant rolls. Sprinkle on some Italian herbs, black pepper and it's ready to go into the oven.
Place the baking dish into a 375F preheated oven, uncovered, for about 40 minutes. After 40 minutes or so, remove the baking dish from the oven and sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese before serving. I'm glad I found this recipe cos it was totally delicious. Go ahead, try it and tell me what you think!

Easy Eggplant Parmesan

I was watching a rerun of The Sopranos the other day and as usual, they were eating dinner! Carmela Soprano was dishing out some eggplant parmesan and it looked sooo good! I've never tried making eggplant parmesan before, but after watching that, I knew I just had to try it. So, I went online to search for an easy eggplant parmesan recipe. I found one that was pretty simple to make and it turned out to be really yummy. Here's how you make it.

Start off my slicing one large eggplant into 3/4 inch slices. If your eggplant is really huge (like the one I bought), you can half the slices too. Place them in a colander and sprinkle salt on both sides of the eggplant slices. Place the colander in the kitchen sink (or you can place a big bowl under it). Allow the eggplant to sit for about an hour. This is done so that the eggplant can sweat out as much liquid as possible.
After about an hour, wash away all the excess salt with cold water. Then, dip the eggplant slices into some egg.
Once you have dipped the eggplant slices, coat it with some breadcrumb mixture. To make the mixture, all you need to do is mix some Italian breadcrumbs with some corn meal, black pepper and parmesan cheese.
Now it's time to fry your eggplant slices. Heat up some olive oil in a pan. Once it's nicely heated, place a few slices of eggplant into the hot oil. Remember not to over crowd the pan. Once you have browned one side, flip it over and allow the other side to brown.
After frying the eggplant slices, allow all the oil to drain. You can also place them on kitchen towels, if you like. I did both, so that all the excess oil is removed. Then, set it aside.
Alright, time to put everything together. First, spread some of your favorite marinara sauce at the bottom of a deep baking dish. I just used those ready made marinara sauce from a bottle. Then, place a layer of eggplant on top of the sauce.
Scoop on more sauce on top of the eggplant slices and sprinkle a generous amount of shredded mozzarella cheese on top of the sauce. Then, place another layer of eggplant on top of the cheese followed by more sauce. Continue layering until the top. Remember not to go all the way to the top. Leave a tiny bit of space at the top, so that is doesn't bubble over while cooking.
Pop it into a preheated 350F oven for about 45 minutes.
There you go. A hot, bubbly, cheesy dish of eggplant mozzarella! Doesn't it look yummy? It definitely tasted really good! Both Kevin and I love this so much, I must say that this recipe is a keeper! You must try it. It's so easy to make and so so so good to eat. You can even make it in advance and just pop the casserole into the oven when you are ready to eat! :D