Baked Eggplant Rolls Stuffed With Cheese

4.75 from 4 votes

Baked Eggplant Rolls Stuffed With Cheese

Greek-styled stuffed Eggplant Rolls with Kasseri cheese and a hearty tomato sauce flavored with cumin and smoked paprika.

Prep Time20

Cook Time50

Course: Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine: European, Greek

Keyword: cheese, Oven baked, vegetables

Servings:

Calories: 325kcal

Ingredients

For The Eggplant Rolls:

2 large eggplants about 600 grams
200 grams (7 ounce) Greek Kasseri cheese (or Kefalograviera, Kefalotyri, Halloumi)
olive oil
salt and pepper

For The Tomato Sauce:

4 tablespoons olive oil
½ small onion minced
2 garlic cloves minced
250 grams (1 cup) canned diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons thyme
⅔ teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons fresh parsley finely chopped
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons lemon juice fresh

To Serve With:

fresh chopped parsley
1 batch of homemade garlic croutons see note 1 below
or ground walnuts for gluten-free version

Instructions

Make The Tomato Sauce:

Heat olive oil in a saucepan. Cook onion and garlic over low heat until caramelized.
Add the diced tomatoes. ½ cup hot water (125 ml), bay leaf, thyme, and cumin. Season with salt and pepper.
Simmer over medium-low heat until the sauce thickens. Take the pot off the heat.
Pulse the sauce using an immersion blender or a blender until smooth.
Stir in the parsley, smoked paprika, and lemon juice. Set aside while preparing the eggplants.

Prepare The Eggplant:

Preheat oven to 200°C / 400°F.
Rinse and dry the eggplants. Slice off the top and bottom and then cut into ½ cm (¼ inch) thick long slices.
Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay the eggplant slices on it (it won't fit all of them so either use another baking sheet or bake in batches).
Brush the eggplant slices with olive oil. Then season them lightly with salt and pepper.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until they get some color on top. Remove and let cool down enough to handle.
Cut the cheese into small sticks to fit inside the eggplant slices. Cut it into as many pieces as the eggplant slices you have.
Add a piece of cheese to each eggplant slice and roll it up.
Spread the tomato sauce on a baking dish or casserole dish. If the sauce has gotten too thick mix in a splash of water to it.
Lay the eggplant rolls on top of the sauce.

Bake The Eggplant Rolls:

Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for about 25 minutes (same temperature).
Uncover the dish and bake for 5-10 minutes more. Until they get nicely colored on top.
Serve warm, sprinkled with fresh chopped parsley, ground croutons, or ground walnuts.

Notes

Note 1: I am serving these Eggplant Rolls with a batch of these Garlic Croutons. I pulse in a food processor until ground and toss them on top of the eggplant when ready to serve. They add a nice crunchiness to the dish. Alternately, serve with ground walnuts.

Nutrition