Eggplant Rollatini with Tomato-Basil Sauce

Okay, this was really super good, although it was a pain in the tail to make. The recipe is labeled "moderate" for difficulty and I had some moderate difficulty with it!

First I sliced the eggplant too thin. I think it was too thin because two of the pieces ended up burning. So I lost a serving...but that's okay because I'm only feeding two of us and I didn't want any leftovers.

If you are new to cooking or are cooking while doing something else (phone, TV, computer, whatever) make sure to have everything set out and prepared before you start. This includes chopping all the veggies and getting all the pans prepped. There's going to be a lot going on at one time.

Another thing that went wrong for me is that our can opener (manual) decided to stop working. I don't even know how that is possible, but it happened. It's kind of a bummer because it is a KitchenAid can opener and I always thought they would last forever, but this is going in the trash. Because of that I couldn't open the crushed tomatoes. Luckily I had a small can of diced tomatoes and a can of tomato soup that both had those little pull tabs on them. I think it turned out just fine.

The husband seemed skeptical at first when I told him what we were having. I served his with a grilled chicken breast. He loved it! He scarfed it all down proclaiming "Hey, this is really good!".

Let's see, other substitutions I made: I used fat free ricotta instead of part skim. This dropped the Points to 3 per serving! And I forgot to buy fresh basil (doh!) so I just used dried. The recipe serves 4 with 2 rollatini things each, but since I was eating this as an entree, I ate three at a total of 5 Points (including my sub of fat free ricotta). Okay, on with the recipe.

Recipe from Weight Watchers:

Eggplant Rollatini

Serves 4 @ 4 Points each

Ingredients:
2 medium raw eggplant, tops & bottoms removed, sliced lengthwise into 8 planks
1 tsp olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, sliced
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
2 Tbsp fresh torn basil
1/4 cup minced onion
1 small zucchini, diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
3 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 large egg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

Preheat oven to 450ºF. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Lay eggplant in a single layer on prepared baking sheet and lightly coat tops with cooking spray. Bake, flipping once, until golden brown, about 10 minutes per side. Remove from oven and set aside.

To make sauce, place oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add sliced garlic; sauté until it begins to brown, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes; stir to combine and reduce heat to low. Add torn basil, stir to combine and simmer for 10 minutes. Cover, remove from heat and set aside.

To make filling, coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Add onion and zucchini; sauté until onion starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in chopped garlic and cook 1 minute more; spoon onion mixture into a small bowl to cool. In another small bowl, combine ricotta, parsley, chopped basil, and 2 tablespoons of Parmesan; stir to combine. Add cooled onion mixture; stir to combine. Add egg, salt and pepper; stir to combine.

To make rollatini, reduce oven to 400ºF. Spoon 3 tablespoons of sauce in bottom of an 8- X 8-inch glass or nonstick metal baking dish and swirl to coat bottom with sauce. On a clean cutting board, place 1 slice of eggplant. Place 2 tablespoons of filling at the narrow end of eggplant and roll up; place in prepared baking dish, seam side-down. Repeat with remaining eggplant slices; arrange in a single layer in dish. Spoon remaining 1/2 cup of sauce and remaining tablespoon of Parmesan over eggplant. Bake until sauce bubbles, about 10 to 15 minutes. Yields 2 pieces of rollatini per serving.