Vegetarian Eggplant Parmigiana with Spinach & Cheese Stuffing

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An All Time Favourite..

This is a hearty, delicious and so satisfying Italian concoction. A superb dish!

I make this evry time I miss home. It reminds me of the cold winter days, coming back from school and my fin

I make this evrytime I miss home. It reminds me of the cold winter days, coming back from school and my fingers almost freezing. Diving into these cheesy, tomato drawned eggplants was so warming and comforting it was great…

If you roll these eggplant slices up, then you will get the famous Eggplant Parmigiana Rolls. If you serve these rolls in neat small plates with a mini spoon, then you can serve them at a cocktail party too! How much more can we really expect?

Here is how they are done:

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp DS Premium organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 3 medium eggplants (about 1 kg),
  • 1 large brown onion, finely chopped
  • 3 medium ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 400g peeled, chopped and cooked tomato
  • 1/2 cup fresh oregano, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp raw honey
  • 500g fresh spinach, chopped coarsely
  • 1 egg, beaten lightly
  • 250g ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • DS Himalayan Salt & Black pepper
  • 1 clove garlic crushed
  • 60g Parmesan Cheese, finely grated
  • 150g toasted pine nuts
For Cheese Sauce
  • 50g butter
  • 2 tsp flour
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 cup Shredded Mozzarella

Start by cutting the eggplants lengthwise into slices. Roast or deep fry these slices in vegetable oil and drained on paper towels

In a heavy saucepan, heat a dash of the olive oil and cook the onion and garlic stirring until softened but not browned.

Add the fresh tomatoes and cook stirring until they are soft. Add the cooked tomatoes, oregano, and honey, then simmer, uncovered until the mixture is reduced by 1/2.

Meanwhile, in a separate skillet, stir the roughly chopped spinach leaves in a dash of olive oil, until just wilted. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the ricotta cheese, spinach, egg, nutmeg, seasoning and 1 clove crushed garlic. Mix all well to combined.

Grease the bottom and sides of your heat-proof oven dish, place 1/3  of the eggplants on the bottom. Top with tomato mixture and another 1/3 of the eggplants, top with spinach mixture. Then repeat with the remaining layers.

Finish with the cheese sauce (see below). Sprinkle with the 2 cheeses. Bake the mixture, uncovered in moderately hot oven about 30 minutes or until browned lightly and everything is cooked through and melted. Garnish with fresh basil and serve hot.

To make Cheese Sauce

Melt Butter in small saucepan. Add flour, cook stirring until mixture thickens and bubbles. Gradually stir in milk, stir until sauce boils and thickens. Remove from heat, stir in cheese.

You can also make these into rolls to serve on buffets or in pass around cocktail receptions.

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