Eggplant Rollatini – Lightened!

Eggplant Rollatini – Lightened! Roasted thin slices of eggplant are stuffed with cheese then rolled and topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and pecorino cheese. Baked  until the cheese is fully melted, making these eggplant rollatini very easy, light, and best tasting ever!

We took our mom’s eggplant rollatini casserole recipe and modified it to make it easier, healthier, and amazingly lighter!

Serve our eggplant rollatini as a side with any main dishes like our London Broil Steak Grilled Perfectly, and our recipe for Chicken Cutlets.

A lighter eggplant rollatini than most recipes and especially our mother’s recipe which is weighed down with a lot of ingredients. 

We love eggplant, especially when roasted or baked, but not fried!

In the past, she would fry the eggplant slices, then stuff them with a heavier filling made with a mixture of ricotta cheese, eggs, and mozzarella and topped them with a bread crumb mixture.

They were delicious but definitely too heavy, and much higher in fat and calories.

This Eggplant Rollatini Lightened is made differently. 

Eggplant slices are quickly roasted then stuffed with a simple filling, and topped with a simple tomato sauce and grated cheese.

Simple recipe creates a very light and delicate texture but without sacrificing flavor.

Best of all, it is gluten-free!

My family enjoyed the lighter side of this eggplant rollatini.  They did not miss the heavy ricotta cheese filling either.

Just another delicious recipe to get your family to eat more eggplant!

This rollatini is even terrific to serve as an appetizer, or as a side dish at dinner.

Perfect for meatless meals too!

Nothing fancy – just simple, light, and delicious!

Serve them warm and enjoy!   …they won’t disappoint!

*Follow along with our step-by-step directions, or jump down for our full recipe card.

 Ingredients for Eggplant Rollatini- Lightened!

• 1 large eggplant

• 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 cup shredded mozzarella

• 1+1/2 cups tomato sauce ( I used our mom’s quick marinara sauce)

• olive oil cooking spray

• chopped fresh basil

• olive oil cooking spray

• grated Romano Pecorino cheese

Directions to make Eggplant Rollatini:

1.  Preheat oven to Roast at 375 degrees.  Spray a large roasting pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
Also, spray the second baking (8 x 11) dish with cooking spray, set it aside.

2.  Rinse eggplant, dry with a paper towel, and cut off the top.
3.  Hold the eggplant upright on top of a cutting board, and thinly slice off the outer skin, and discard.  Then begin to slice the eggplant into 1/4-inch slices, rotating the eggplant to help slice easily.

QUICK TIPS and NOTES: 

• If you keep the skin on the eggplant (as I did in our photos), they will become very charred and crispy.  Some will like it … and some won’t. 

• So for this recipe, I recommend removing the skins. 

• You should get approximately 16 slices from one eggplant, depending on how thin you slice them.

4.  Transfer slices into a large roasting pan.  Lay them side by side, or slightly overlap them if you need to.
5.  Drizzle very lightly with some olive oil over them.  Place pan in the oven on the center rack.
6.  Roast eggplant slices for 18 to 20 minutes, or until lightly brown and softened, turning them over once halfway through.
7.  Remove from oven, and set aside to cool for a few minutes.

8.  Change oven temperature (from Roast) to BAKE, and REDUCE temperature to 350 degrees.

9.  Take each eggplant slice and lay it on a flat surface or on a plate. Then sprinkle about 1 to 2 tablespoons of shredded mozzarella over each.  Pick up one end and roll the eggplant.  Place each roll with seam side down, and lay them side by side into the prepared baking dish.

10.  Spoon lightly some tomato sauce over each eggplant rollatini evenly.

11.  Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella on top.

12.  BAKE for 15 to 18 minutes, or until cheese is completely melted.  Remove from oven and sprinkle on top with some grated Romano-Pecorino cheese and fresh chopped basil.  Serve warm.

Yields: 16 eggplant rollatini

Finally, you might enjoy a few more eggplant recipes. 

• Mom’s Best Eggplant Parmesan

• Best Eggplant Manicotti Casserole

• Easy Stuffed Mini Eggplants

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Happy and Healthy Cooking! 🙂

Thanks for stopping by!

 xo Anna and Liz