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cheesy baked eggplant beef involtini

Eggplant Beef Involtini

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  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 4 people 1x

Description

The taste is incredible! Delicious Eggplant Beef Involtini in a simple rich tomato sauce, ground beef and parmesan cheese. A few simple ingredients and another great Italian classic. The Involtini, which is 'Italian roll ups' are baked till cooked through and the cheese is a light golden brown. 

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2 large or 3 medium eggplants, sliced lengthwise (1/4 or 1/2 inch thick slices)
  • 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
  • 1 cup mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
  • olive oil for cooking the mince and eggplant slices
  • 1 small onion, finely diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 cups marinara sauce
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 500 grams ground beef
  • salt and pepper, divided
  • meat seasoning
  • fresh basil

Instructions

  1. Step 1 - Prep the ingredients Get all the ingredients measured out and infront of you. Make sure you have a board to work on and something to spread the eggplants on - a board, rack or tray. You also need a knife to clean and slice the eggplants and a brush to oil the egglant slices.
    Skillet Use a skillet that can go into the oven to oven-bake the involtini OR you can transfer the involtini (roll ups) to a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
  2. Step 2 - Make the sauce If you are making a homemade marinara sauce, start with the sauce. Note: this can be done days ahead OR a store-bought jar works too.
  3. Step 3 - Cook the ground beef Heat a pan with enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan, roughly 2-3 tablespooons. With the pan on medium-high heat, add the onions and a pinch of salt, let it cook till light brown and soft. Now add the garlic, mix it in and add the ground beef, meat seasoning, salt and pepper. Combine and leave to cook until the meat has turned from pink to brown. Add the tomato sauce, stir it into the beef, taste for seasoning, add the water and leave to simmer for 5 minutes or until the water has just about evaporated and add the tomato paste. Stir that in and leave for a another 5 minutes. If you need a dash more water (1/4 cup) then add it and stir. Leave for the final 4-5 minutes and remove the beef sauce from the stove. Set aside.
  4. Pre-heat the grill pan.
    Step 4 - Prep the eggplant Rinse the eggplant, remove the hard bits on the ends and slice it lengthwise into your preferred thickness. 1/4 inch slices, 1/2 inch or 1-inch slices. No need to salt and sweat the eggplant. Place the eggplant slices on a board, plate or tray and brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, both sides.
  5. Step 5 - Grill the eggplants Heat the grill till piping hot and then lower the heat to medium high. Place the eggplant slices on the grill, working in batches and grill for a couple seconds each side.
    You just want them a little softer to fold over so it only takes 2-3 minutes per side
    Tip:  Keeping the grill on very high heat while grilling will smoke up the kitchen unnecessarily. Keep it medium to high.
  6. Step 6 - Preheat the oven and the skillet Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C / 374 degrees F. Rack in the middle.
    Remove half the meat sauce into a bowl and set aside.
  7. Step 7 - Fill the eggplants Place the grilled eggplants on a board infront of you so you can start filling. Start off with a little ricotta cheese on each slice, just sort of spread it over the slice (eggplant slices should be completely cooled down by now). Add a little meat sauce over the ricotta.
  8. Step 8 - Add cheese and roll up Add mozzarella cheese, enough to still give you room to roll or fold them over. Now you can roll the eggplants up and place them seam side down into the sauce OR you can hold them together with a toothpick. Place each eggplant roll up into the skillet over the sauce as you finish. Continue until all the eggplant slices are in the sauce.
  9. Step 9 - Fill with cheese and remaining meat sauce With all the eggplant involtini in the sauce add the remaining meat sauce on the sides of the skillet and inbetween trying not to cover the toothpicks or the lovely char marks. Do the same with the mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese, fill in-between.
  10. Step 10 - Bake & Serve Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the top is light golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave the involtini to cool for 10 minutes before carving and serving.
  11. 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, and a little sauce on the side. 
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Category: Mains
  • Cuisine: American Italian, Italian

Nutrition

  • Calories: 632
  • Sugar: 18
  • Sodium: 1493
  • Fat: 40
  • Saturated Fat: 18
  • Carbohydrates: 31
  • Fiber: 11
  • Protein: 41
  • Cholesterol: 135

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