17/08/2020

Eggplant Involtini with Tomato Capsicum Sauce

This is Sicilian classic is my all-time favourite eggplant dish and it just happens to suit every vegetarian I know too. Assemble it in advance and then just give it a blast in the oven to deliciously meld everything together and turn it into a feelgood dish that rivals lasagne.

Serves:

4 Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Download Recipe PDF

Ingredients

2 large eggplants
extra virgin olive oil, as needed
sea salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup finely chopped, crustless stale bread
500g full-fat ricotta (cut from the wheel)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1 cup grated provolone*
TOMATO CAPSICUM SAUCE
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 small red capsicum, finely chopped
1/2 cup wine or stock
400g can peeled tomatoes
sugar, to taste

Method

Cut eggplants lengthwise into 12 thin slices (1/2 cm thick). Brush with oil, season with salt and grill or chargrill on one side only. Dry fry the pine nuts in a frypan until golden and remove. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the frypan and fry garlic, bread and 1 teaspoon salt until toasted. Break up the ricotta using a fork; add the pine nuts, toasted bread mixture and basil, mixing with your hand. Season to taste.
Divide the ricotta filling evenly between eggplant slices, placing the filling on the short end of the eggplant and rolling up to enclose. Pour Tomato Capsicum Sauce into the base of a lasagne dish, nestle the eggplant involtini into the sauce, sprinkle with provolone and bake at 200°C for 30 minutes until golden brown. Serve sprinkled with basil leaves and extra toasted pine nuts.
For the Tomato Capsicum Sauce, heat olive oil in a frypan and sauté onion and capsicum until softened. Add wine and chopped tomatoes and simmer for 5-10 minutes until thickened. Season to taste, adding a little sugar if needed.
*VARIATION Provolone can be substituted for half mozzarella, half parmesan.

Tips

TIPS This dish can be fully assembled and refrigerated up to 24 hours in advance.
STYLING Roll the eggplant with the chargrilled side out to show the grill marks.
DRINK MATCH Riesling, shiraz or Italian pilsner.

New Recipes

Coriander Turkey Meatballs in Satay Sauce

Turkey mince makes great meatballs, especially when smothered in a peanut satay sauce.

Greek Custard Rolls (Galactobureko Rolls)

These beautiful little pastry rolls with a semolina custard filling are drenched in a sweet sticky honey syrup that is…

Smoked Paprika Chicken with Apple Mint Salad

This is so much more than a chicken salad, particularly if you cook and carve the chicken and serve the…

Share On:

Coriander Turkey Meatballs in Satay Sauce

Turkey mince makes great meatballs, especially when smothered in a peanut satay sauce.

Desserts ·

Greek Custard Rolls (Galactobureko Rolls)

These beautiful little pastry rolls with a semolina custard filling are drenched in a sweet sticky honey syrup that is so loved by the Greeks. This recipe was handed down to me by my girlfriend Kelly, so in our house,…

Main Courses ·

Smoked Paprika Chicken with Apple Mint Salad

This is so much more than a chicken salad, particularly if you cook and carve the chicken and serve the warm slices on top of the fresh salad mix.

Main Courses ·

Baked Sausage, Ricotta and Basil Penne

A tasty pasta bake that can be cooked in a flash.

Tuna, Caper and Tomato Shell Pasta

A quick tasty pasta made with store cupboard ingredients.

Marinara Mornay

Seafood marinara mix in a creamy bechamel is a luscious dish as an entree or main.

Main Courses ·

Chicken and Fennel Paella Verde

This paella blanca (although I do use a bit of saffron) is a fresh take on this Spanish classic and combines chicken, fennel, zucchini and asparagus with the zing of lemon.