Eggplant Rollatini Recipe

Go all out on tonight’s dinner with this Eggplant Rollatini recipe. It’s made with a heaping portion of veggies, tons of spices, and three different cheeses. Eat up!

The most delicious baked eggplant rollatini meal

Are you ready to do a deep dive into some serious flavor? Today, we’re cooking up a delicious eggplant rollatini recipe that hits all of the flavor marks and tastes like a dream. It’s complete with a perfect cheese to sauce ratio and is made using loads of spices for taste!

If you’re unfamiliar, rollatini is a dish consisting of what are essentially stuffed slices of eggplant. They’re filled with veggies like onion, pepper, and mushrooms, a meat (we’re using turkey), and a blend of cheeses! Many recipes call for breading the eggplant, but we’re skipping that step in favor of a healthier result.

So if you’re ready to fill your belly with a wildly satisfying Italian-inspired meal, let’s dive in!

Ingredients in this eggplant rollatini recipe

We’re loading up this dish with three cheeses, various veggies, and loads of seasonings.

• Eggplants: Start with 2 large eggplants. You’ll need to slice them.
• Avocado oil: 2 tbsp of avocado oil will be needed for cooking the veggies.
• Vegetables: And as for the veggies themselves, dice up 1 small yellow onion, 1 red bell pepper, and 1 cup of mushrooms.
• Turkey: For the meat, include 1 lb of ground turkey.
• Ricotta: Time to start on the cheese! Begin with 1.5 cups of part skim ricotta.
• Parmesan: Follow that with 1/2 cup of grated parmesan.
• Seasonings: Next, we’ll be adding the most important ingredients — the spices! Include 3 cloves of minced garlic, 1/4 cup of fresh chopped basil, 1 tsp of salt, and 1/2 tsp of ground pepper.
• Marinara sauce: We’ll be using 2.5 cups (divided) of marina sauce for this dish.
• Mozzarella: Finally, finish off the recipe with 1 cup of delicious shredded mozzarella cheese.

Tools needed to create this recipe

When it comes to making this dish, you’ll need a good amount of kitchen tools. I like to gather everything before I start cooking to make the process that much smoother. Here’s what you’ll need, in order:

• Cutting board
• Chopping knife
• Mandolin slicer (optional)
• Paper towels
• Baking sheet
• Parchment paper
• Skillet or pan
• Spatula or stirring utensil
• Strainer
• Large mixing bowl
• 9×13 inch casserole dish
• Aluminum foil

As for measuring, you will need 1/2 tsp, 1 tsp, 1 tbsp, 1/4 cup, 1/2 cup, and 1 cup.

How to make baked eggplant rollatini

You’ll need about an hour and a half to prep this recipe and let it cook and cool. Save it for a relaxed weekend meal or prep it ahead for an easy pop-in-the-oven weeknight dinner! The end result is so worth it.

Eggplants

To begin, preheat the oven to 400ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Slice the eggplants into 1/4 inch thick slices. Generously salt both sides of the slices, and then let them sweat for 10 minutes. Liquid will release, which will prevent excess moisture later on. After 10 minutes, dry the slices with a paper towel.

Bake the eggplant for 10 minutes to soften, as this makes it easier for them to roll. Let them cool completely.

Veggies & cheeses

Meanwhile, chop the veggies and heat the avocado oil in a pan. Once it’s hot, add the veggies.

Let them cook for 4 minutes and then add the ground turkey. Sprinkle in a pinch of salt and pepper, and cook until the turkey is no longer pink.

Drain the excess liquid from the meat and veggies, and set it aside to cool.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the ricotta, parmesan, garlic, basil, salt, and pepper.

Add the meat and veggies to the ricotta mixture and stir.

Assembly

Add 1 cup of marinara sauce to the bottom of the 9×13 inch casserole dish.

With the eggplant slices, add 1/4 cup of meat to the wide part of the slice, adjusting the amount based on the eggplant size. Roll tightly.

Place the eggplants seam side down in the dish and repeat with all of the slices.

Top the eggplant rollups with the remaining marinara sauce and the mozzarella cheese.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Take off the foil and bake for 10 more minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before eating, and enjoy!

Can I use a different sized casserole dish?
You sure can! I find that a 9×13 inch size does a good job of holding all of the eggplant rolls, but any size will work as long as the eggplants are in a single layer. If you’d like to half the recipe, it may be easier to use an 8×8 or smaller dish.

How should this be stored?
Store leftover eggplant rollatini in a tightly sealed container. Keep it in the refrigerator and enjoy within 2 to 3 days.

To freeze for the future, simply prep as directed, but cover and freeze prior to baking. Remove from the freezer and thaw prior to cooking.

Need to switch things up? Here are some easy recipe swaps that you can make! I threw in a few add-on options as well.

Yellow onion
Simply enough, you can replace the yellow onion with red or white.

Red bell pepper
Rollatini isn’t a picky dish — feel free to swap the red bell pepper for green, yellow, or orange!

Ground turkey
If you’re not feeling ground turkey, feel free to substitute it with ground beef or chicken.

Marinara sauce
Many recipes use tomato sauce rather than marinara. That substitute should work just as well!

Add-on options
Add to your veggie mixure by including chopped zucchini, tomatoes, or even celery! I recommend salting the zucchini like the eggplants if you plant to use them. You don’t want a watery rollatini!

Extra spices
Finally, you can add extra flavor with any combination of parsley, red pepper flakes, or paprika.

If you liked this recipe, you’ll want to try these!

I love including turkey in my recipes because it’s a lean option that really amps up meals and leaves you feeling full and satisfied. Here are some more entrées that utilize it!

• Buffalo Turkey Stuffed Zucchini Boats
• Easy Pineapple Turkey Burgers
• Easy Turkey Meatballs (Gluten-Free)
• Butternut Squash Chili with Turkey

Recipe by Erin Morrissey and Photos by The Mindful Hapa