Eggplant Beef Involtini

The taste of these eggplant rolls is incredible!

Delicious Eggplant Beef Involtini in a basic tomato sauce, ricotta cheese, ground beef and parmesan cheese.  

Without any exaggeration, this involtini di melanzane (rolled eggplant) is pure gold!

And certainly as delicious as Eggplant Parmesan (Parmigiana di Melanzane in Italian).

We take it from the oven to the table, while it's still warm and each bite melts in your mouth.

I'm hoping to convince you to give this eggplant recipe a try!

It's quite simply a brilliant ingredient combination and a great Italian classic recipe.  

In this recipe I am also sharing an image snippet of vegetarian eggplant slices rolled with ricotta cheese and cooked in a marinara sauce.

The main recipe is an Eggplant Beef Involtini which I held together with toothpicks.

These filled and rolled eggplant slices were baked in an easy marinara sauce and served as small bundles of food.

Soooo Good!

What's the Difference Between Eggplant Parmesan and Eggplant Involtini?

The difference in these two recipes is that eggplant parmesan uses sliced breaded and fried eggplant.

Whereas eggplant involtini, is either oven baked or grilled, filled and rolled.

They both use Italian cheese and are baked.

What's the Difference Between Eggplant Rollatini and Involtini?

There is hardly a difference except that in America it's called Rollatini and in Italy it's called Involtini.

The eggplant slices are breaded and fried for rollatini and we grill and roll them for involtini.

Again, I'm picking hairs here. It's how you like it, call it what you like, you're going to love it regardless.

Below are some images of Eggplant Involtini or if you prefer Rollatini, vegetarian recipe.

Eggplant rolled around creamy ricotta cheese which is mixed with parmesan cheese, seasoning and pecorino romano and cooked seam side down in a rich tomato sauce.

Vegetarian Eggplant With Ricotta Cheese

Image snippet below.

Tip 1: If you find your ricotta cheese a little stiff, add a small amount of the marinara sauce. It will help make it smoother and easier to roll. It will also be slightly pink!

Tip 2: Add an egg to the ricotta mix to prevent it from slipping out the eggplant. We love it either way.

What does Involtini mean? 

Involtini is an Italian word for "roll-up" so it refers more to the shape than the dish. It's not only eggplants that can make involtini, you can use meat like beef or chicken too.

We often use thin meat cutlets, fill them with sliced garlic, fresh herbs, fennel and seasoning. Roll it up, seal and cook in a tomato sauce. That's Involtini!

We are huge fans of homemade tomato sauce and eggplants so when we have them, it's a big deal.

Oh who am I kidding, all food is a big deal here🤩

And as true eggplant lovers roast eggplant is our favorite side dish. It's super quick and easy.

Ingredients - What You Need

Let's make this Beef Involtini Recipe. The full recipe card is below this post. 

Eggplants: Use any eggplants but larger is better and you will need one if extra large, 2-3 for smaller ones.

One large or two medium will serve 2-3 people.

If you find those really large eggplants take them. They are normally called globe eggplants or American eggplants. The length gives you beautiful long large slices for the filling.

Olive oil: To coat the eggplant slices before grilling.

Ground beef: The best quality you can find.

Onion & Garlic: To start off the browning flavor of the beef. Fresh garlic is best.

Canned tomato: For a simple homemade sauce. I prefer whole canned tomatoes, the juice is thicker but you can use chopped tomatoes too. OR a good marinara sauce if using store-bought.

Seasoning: You can use Italian seasoning or an all round seasoning to flavor the meat.

Kosher salt & Black pepper: As you go, to taste.

Tomato paste: Gives the ground beef and tomato the perfect finish.

Ricotta cheese: A rich and creamy cheese filling.

Mozzarella cheese: Love the mildness of mozzrella when oven baking and the melt!

Parmesan cheese: I use very little parmesan cheese in this recipe to finish.

How to Make Beef Involtini - Step by Step

Here are the key steps to this recipe:

• Make the marinara sauce or use a store-bought marinara
• Cook the ground beef
• Grill the eggplants
• Fill and roll
• Bake

Let's do this!

Step 1.  Prep the Eggplants

Start by rinsing the eggplant, remove the hard bits on the ends and slice it length-wise.

Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, both sides.

Pre-heat the grill pan while you clean up, it takes a few minutes.

Tip: Eggplants inhale any oil, it's like a sponge. Be generous when brushing oil over the eggplant slices.

Step 2.  Grill the Eggplants

Preheat the grill and grill the eggplants - Heat the grill till piping hot and then lower to medium heat.

Place the eggplant slices on the grill, working in batches and grill for a couple seconds each side.

Pliable eggplant slices - You just want them a little softer to fold over so it only takes 1-2 minutes per side for each (especially once the heat has set in).

Set the grilled eggplants aside. 

Tip:  Keeping the grill on very high heat while grilling will smoke up the kitchen unnecessarily. Keep it on medium heat. 

Step 3.  Cook the Ground Beef

For convenience, use a large skillet or non-stick pan to cook the sauce. One that you can transfer from stovetop to oven.

OR you can add the sauce and the eggplants into any oven dish.

Cook the onion and garlic - Heat enough oil to cook the onions till soft and a ligh brown, add a pinch of salt while cooking. Add garlic and mix.

Add ground beef and marinara sauce - When the beef changes from the pink color to all brown, add the marinara sauce, water and seasoning.

Stir and cook for 5 minutes or until the water has evaporated and sauce thicker.

Tomato paste and seasoning - Then add the tomato paste and taste for salt, pepper and meat seasoning.

Stir it in and turn the heat off while the sauce finishes cooking.

Step 4.  Fill the Eggplant Slices

Place the grilled eggplant slices on a board so you can start to fill them.

I like working off a sheet of parchment paper to collect any spillage. 

Ricotta cheese - We start off with a little ricotta cheese on each slice, spread it over the now cooled eggplant slices.

Beef marinara sauce - Spoon tomato sauce (the beef mince sauce) and then add mozzarella cheese. 

Tip: Use any Italian cheese or even a combination. I love the melt of mozzarella🙂

Step 5.  Italian Roll up's (Involtini)

First, add half of the meat sauce into the skillet. This will act as a base for the eggplant parcels.

Seal the eggplant bundles - Then, working with one at a time, get the two ends to meet and use a toothpick to hold it together.

Place into the sauce - As you finish the little bundles, place each one into the sauce. Continue with all the eggplant parcels until done.

Fill up the sides and inbetween - Add the remaining ground beef with sauce in-between the eggplant involtini and then go in with the grated cheese filling the gaps. Try not to cover the toothpicks in sauce!

Step 6. Bake & Serve

Oven baked involtini - Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the top is light golden brown.

Let the eggplants rest - Leave the involtini to cool for 5-10 minutes before carving and serving.

Serve & Enjoy - Serve freshly baked and warm.  When you carve the eggplant out the skillet or baking dish, you will get individual little eggplant parcels.

Top each one off with fresh basil leaves, extra cheese and a little sauce on the side. 

How to Serve Involtini

This is a very simple yet extremely versatile recipe and serving this dish fresh and still warm is always best. It's also suitable and friendly to vegetarians (as mentioned, eggplant with ricotta) and meat loving carnivores.

You can serve eggplant beef involtini as an appetizer or a side dish to chicken and other meat mains. Homemade bread or a side salad are also great ideas with involtini.

Tips on Making Eggplant Involtini

• Long globe shaped eggplants (also known as Amercian eggplants) are great but any eggplants will work.

• You can make this recipe with ground beef and sauce without ricotta cheese. Simply add mozzarella for the rest of the recipe.

• Make a herby ricotta filling and add a little lemon, fresh herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Mix the ricotta and use as per recipe instructions.

Make Ahead Involtini

You know what that I'm going to say - Eat eggplant involtini fresh!

In saying that however, the tomato sauce can be made at least 4-5 days in advance. If you are really in a bind then prepare the entire dish the day before, do not bake! Bake the next day.

Any number of days additional to this for refrigerating, will certainly compromise the texture of the eggplants and might even be soggy.

Reheating

Reheat in the oven on 180 -190 C until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese melted. You can add cheese before reheating. Small amounts can be reheated in the microwave.

In the image below is a version of this Eggplant Involtini (also with beef and marinara sauce) but no ricotta.

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