Eggplant Rollatini Bolognese

You’re going to love this healthful low-carb eggplant rollatini bolognese . Serve it as an appetizer or as the main course. Buon appetito!

Today, I am revisiting one of my favorite recipes: eggplant rollatini. This time I’ve updated it with a special twist, stuffing these delicious bundles of eggplant with mozzarella cheese and a meaty bolognese sauce.

I’ve found that the more research I do on gluten free and healthy living, the more I keep revising my recipes in an effort to use the healthiest ingredients and cooking methods.

After more than ten years of following a gluten-free lifestyle, my family is also trying to avoid sugar, most grains, eat organic whenever we can, enjoy green drinks, and eliminate processed food.

We’ve improved our diet, and we’re feeling terrific. In order to update my eggplant rollatini recipe to fit our current diet, I decided to leave out the breadcrumbs and broil the eggplant instead of frying.

Once rolled up with the mozzarella and meat sauce, the result was absolutely perfect.

Not only is this eggplant rollatini a healthy choice for dinner, it’s a quick and convenient one too. I decided on this dish for today because I have friends visiting this afternoon.

The great thing about eggplant rollatini bolognese is that it can be prepared ahead and stored in the fridge until it’s time to bake.

Honestly, I think it’s even better when the flavors mingle a while before cooking. Knowing that dinner is taken care of, I’ll enjoy my friends’ company and not be preoccupied with thoughts of dinner preparation.

Sometimes I get caught up in a daily routine of too much work and responsibilities. It’s good to take a break and spend carefree time with friends, drinking cool lemonade, enjoying fresh fruit, talking, and laughing together.

Especially when you can look forward to savoring wonderful eggplant rollatini bolognese for dinner.

Let me show you how easy it is to make.

Instructions

*Free printable recipe card is available at the end of the post.

First, slice up the eggplants. With two medium-sized eggplants, you should be able to cut about 18 (¼ inch thick lengthwise) eggplant slices.

Brush the eggplant slices with olive oil, season with salt, and arrange as many as will fit on a broiling pan.  Broil about 4-5 minutes on each side and repeat until all the slices are browned.

Be careful to check the slices after 3 minutes as some of my slices in the second batch burned a little.

Now for the sauce. In Bologna, where the sauce originated, three different kinds of ground meat – usually beef, lamb, and veal – are browned beforehand while sautéing vegetables and herbs.

Then, they are all mixed together with puréed tomatoes in a pot that simmers for hours (sometimes overnight) on the stove. This, however, is my easy bolognese with just ground beef.

Italian cooks call the foundation of this sauce: soffritto. It always begins with celery, onions, and carrots.

First, sauté the celery, onion, and carrot in oil in a large skillet until the onions are translucent. Then add the garlic and sauté for another minute. Next, add the beef to the sautéed vegetables, season with salt, and cook stirring frequently, until the meat has browned.

Then, add tomato purée, tomato paste, a bay leaf, salt, and oregano to taste. Finally, add a parmesan cheese rind to the pot and simmer.

The cheese rind infuses your sauce with flavor plus it adds a bit of thickness. So next time you’re about to finish up that wedge of cheese, save the rind.

And that’s it.

Next, grease a baking dish and spoon some sauce into the bottom of the baking dish. Place no more than a tablespoon of beef bolognese sauce on the end of each broiled eggplant slice, sprinkle with mozzarella, and roll up. 

Place in your baking dish, seam side down. Spoon more sauce on top and sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella cheese (about 6 ounces). Cover and set in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350℉. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes until the rollatini are heated through and the mozzarella cheese has melted.

How easy is that? You’re going to love this healthful dish. Serve it as an appetizer or as the main course. Buon appetito!

Pro tips and recipe notes

• Slice your eggplant into 1/4 inch slices. You can use this mandoline slicer. I love this simple tool for cutting up thin strips.
• Roasting the eggplant before assembling your casserole will keep the casserole from becoming watery.

I can’t wait for you to try this recipe. And if you have any questions, please reach out to me in the comments or shoot me an email, and I’ll respond ASAP.

More recipes like this

Zoodles (Zucchini Noodles) With Bolognese Sauce: Here are all my tips to make zoodles covered in this same bolognese sauce.

Zucchini Lasagna Casserole That Really Rocks: This casserole is a delicious low carb meal!  And I’ve updated the recipe to include a cool cooking video so you can watch how to make it.

Tastiest Low Carb Stuffed Cabbage: Whether you’re cutting out grains because of allergies, reducing carbs because you want to lower your insulin response, trying to lose those extra pounds, or you’re just looking for a super delicious comfort food, this stuffed cabbage is just what you need!

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Eggplant Rollatini Bolognese

You’re going to love this healthful dish. Serve it as an appetizer or as the main course. Buon appetito!

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine Italian-American

Keyword eggplant cooking ideas

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 4

Calories 498kcal

Author Barbara Bianchi

Ingredients

• 2 large eggplants
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella divided
• salt
• For Bolognese Sauce:
• 1 pound ground beef
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery finely chopped
• 1 carrot finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 28-ounce can tomato purée (Muir Glen is organic and gluten-free)
• 1 6- ounce tomato paste (Muir Glen is organic and gluten-free)
• 1 inch parmesan cheese rind
• 1 dried bay leaf
• oregano
• parmesan cheese to taste optional

Instructions

• Slice eggplants. From 2 eggplants you should be able to get about 18 (¼ inch-thick lengthwise) eggplant slices
• Brush the eggplant slices with olive oil, season with salt and arrange a many as will fit on your broiler pan. Broil about 4-5 minutes on each side and repeat until all the slices are browned.
• For Bolognese Sauce:

  Sauté the celery, onion, and carrot in oil in a large skillet until the onions are translucent. Then add the garlic and sauté for another minute.

  Add beef to the sautéed vegetables, season with salt, and cook stirring frequently, until the meat has browned.

  Then, add tomato purée, tomato paste, a bay leaf, salt, parmesan cheese rind, and oregano to taste. Simmer on low.
• Assemble in Baking Dish:

  Next, grease a baking dish. Remove the bay leaf and parmesan rind from the sauce. Spoon some sauce into the bottom of the baking dish. Place a tablespoon of beef bolognese sauce on the end of each eggplant slice, sprinkle with mozzarella and roll up.

  Place in baking dish, seam side down. Spoon more sauce on top and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Cover and set in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake.
• When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350℉. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes until rollatini are heated through and mozzarella cheese melts.

Notes

• Slice your eggplant into 1/4 inch slices. You can use this mandoline slicer. I love this simple tool for cutting up thin strips.
• Roasting the eggplant before assembling your casserole will keep the casserole from becoming watery.

Nutrition

Calories: 498kcal | Carbohydrates: 16.5g

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