Dan and Erin’s Rolled Eggplant Bolognese
Dan and Erin’s
Rolled Eggplant Bolognese
“Important note: Where possible, we use stainless steel or heavy ‘Le Creuset’ type cookware – don’t use aluminium for this recipe!”
This recipe is more like an Italian ‘hash up’ involtini with eggplant and meat sauce instead of Ricotta, but the ingredients and preparation are very similar to the Moussaka Cressida makes at Mago’s request. This is a dish of ours that is about utilising our favourite leftovers in a new and tasty way.
Ingredients
4 medium sized eggplants, cut longways in ¼ inch slices
2 x 200 gram balls of fresh mozzarella, sliced
600 grams of your favourite leftover Bolognese meat sauce
You can use any favourite meat sauce recipe for this dish – but our preference is a slow cooked classical Bologna recipe, made with a combination of pork and beef mince, white wine, milk, tomatoes and beef stock. The end result should be a rich, well flavoured mixture – and the quality of this mix makes all the difference to final dish!
For the Tomato Sauce
Olive Oil
Salt
2-3 cloves of garlic
400 grams canned whole San Marzano tomatoes (the quality of the tomato is very important – if you cannot find San Marzano’s, a high quality canned or Passata di pomodoro will do instead)
For the white sauce
35 grams white flour
35 grams butter
500 ml whole milk
1-2 fresh bay leaves
¼ white onion
To garnish
Fresh basil
Grated Parmesan
Instructions
Pre-heat your oven to Bake at 250 degrees Celsius.
While your oven is heating, slice the eggplants lengthwise into ¼ inch strips. On 2-3 large baking trays, rub garlic on the base, adding salt, and a very small amount of olive oil.
Line the eggplant on the trays and bake for 15-25 minutes on one side only. You want the eggplant to brown on one side, but not burn. Depending on the size of your oven and how many baking trays you have, you may need to do this in batches. This is fine – the eggplants should be cooled to room temperature once you are ready to roll them.
At this stage you will want to bring your leftover Bolognese out of the refrigerator to soften on the counter while you are cooking.
Making the tomato sauce
While your eggplant is cooking, make the tomato sauce. Because of the quality of the San Marzano tomatoes or high quality passata, this is a fast, fresh sauce to make that you can make in bulk and freeze, as it can be used as a pasta sauce on its own, pizza sauce, or base for other dishes.
In a medium saucepan, add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, a dash of sea salt, and grate 2 large cloves of garlic into this before you heat the pan. (*cooking hack – add a splash of water to help cook the garlic more quickly without browning it).
Cook on medium to high heat until garlic sizzles, then raise heat until the water has burned off.
If your tomatoes are whole, blitz them first to get a chunky puree (in a blender for about ten seconds). Not necessary if you are using a passata. Add the 400 grams of tomatoes and cook on medium heat for about ten minutes, adding salt to flavour if needed.
Making the white sauce
In a small stainless-steel saucepan, add the flour and butter on low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture takes on a sandy look and texture. Set aside to cool.
In a separate medium sized saucepan, add 500 ml of whole milk with 1-2 fresh bay leaves and ¼ white onion, infusing the flavours into the milk. The milk should be heated gently, until just about hot enough that you can’t put your finger in it.
Then sieve mix removing the bay leaf and onion from the milk and bring gently up to a boil as you whisk in the now room temperature roux. It is important that you continually whisk and do not let any of the roux stick to the bottom of the pan and burn, or you will have to start again! Once it starts to bubble – it is ready to go – with no further cooking needed!
“And now, eat and enjoy!!!!”
Prepping your leftover Bolognese
Once softened, check the seasoning adding salt and pepper – we also add a little ground cumin, but season to your taste!
Rolling the eggplant
Lower temperature on the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Create a thin base layer in a 30.5 cm oval ceramic baking dish of your tomato sauce, grating a small layer of parmesan over top.
Top and tail two slices of the cooked eggplant (the eggplant should be cool, soft enough to fold – but not so soft it will fall to pieces) Scoop a large spoonful of meat sauce in the middle. Roll the eggplant around the meat sauce and fold underneath – and place them in the ceramic dish, and line them up like enchiladas.
Once the dish is full, top with the white sauce, then another layer of your tomato sauce, and finally the slices of fresh mozzarella on top.
Bake at 175 Celsius for 30 minutes.
Let rest for 5 minutes until it has cooled slightly, and the cheese is no longer bubbling. Serve immediately or refrigerate as is and re-heat the next day.
Garnish with fresh basil and parmesan.
