Eggplant Roll-Ups served with Barbie's Marinara Sauce

I've really been in the mood for some good old marinara sauce. I think my first cookbook was The Barbie Party Cookbook. I don't even know how old I was but I remember making the spaghetti recipe in there and my family really liked it a lot. So for years my mom and I have used this marinara sauce recipe. The cookbook is hilarious to me now! Ken is featured in romantic scenes for the Valentines Day recipes. I believe Skipper is skiing in the winter section with hot chocolate. As the years have passed I basically stopped looking up the recipe and have kinda made it my own. For a while I've wanted to try one of the many eggplant recipes I have and I just happened to have an eggplant on hand I wanted to use. I found this recipe in Rachel Ray's magazine, who I like a lot but I personally like to cook from scratch, so I adjusted some things. 


Eggplant Roll-Ups

1 large eggplant, cut lengthwise into 8 slices
salt & pepper
4 large eggs (I used 4 "eggs" of Ener-G Egg Replacer)
3/4 C. store-bought pesto (I made this recipe)
2 1/2 C. bread crumbs
6 T. EVOO
3/4 C. ricotta cheese (I used this instead)
1/3 C. grated pecorino-romano cheese (I used nutritional yeast)
1 C. store-bought marinara sauce (I made it from scratch)

Season the eggplant with salt and pepper. In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs and 4 T. of the pesto. Pour the bread crumbs onto a large plate. Dip each eggplant slice into the egg mixture, then coat with the breadcrumbs.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 T. olive oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook the eggplant until golden, 2 minutes on each side, using the remaining 4 T. olive oil if needed. Transfer the eggplant to a paper-towel-lined baking sheet. 

In a small bowl, combine the ricotta and 3 T. grated cheese (or nutritional yeast); season with salt and pepper. Spread 1 T. of the remaining pesto on each eggplant slice and top with about 2 T. of the cheese mixture. Roll up each slice. Place them in a casserole dish and bake until the eggplant is tender when pierced with a toothpick, about 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan bring the marinara sauce to a simmer. Serve the roll-ups with the sauce and remaining grated cheese. 

 And lastly, here's Barbie's recipe for the marinara sauce.
Tomato Sauce 

1 garlic clove, minced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
2 T. oil
2 bay leaves
1 28-oz can Italian crushed tomatoes 
1/2 t. oregano 

Heat oil in a large sauce pan. Add the garlic, onion, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until onions are soft. 
Pour in the tomatoes, oregano, and bay leaves. Cook, uncovered, at a low boil or simmer for 15 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove bay leaves before serving. 

The eggplant was pretty good. I honestly couldn't taste the pesto very strongly. Maybe I didn't put enough on each slice. But it was a ton of work since I made everything from scratch. It took forever and the end result wasn't worth it. This recipe may be only worth it if you take short cuts. It did have a good taste and it was kinda fun to make.. Give it a try, do something different if you'd like. If nothing else, try this amazing marinara sauce. It obviously worked for Ken!;)

Chef Teebs