A Summer Pleasure: Grilled Eggplant Rolled with an Herbal Ricotta and Creamy Burrata Cheese Filling and Baked with a Zesty Marinara. Add some crunch and interest with a Garlicky-Parmesan Breadcrumb Topping. Lightened-Up Vegetarian Comfort Food!
Are you looking for something to make with fresh garden eggplant? You’ll love this Vegetarian and Gluten-Free recipe (I have used gluten-free breadcrumbs) that is full of flavor using healthy ingredients.
Lately, I’m craving Italian Vegetarian Comfort Food~ this lightened-up version is a great recipe to enjoy eggplant all summer long.
No breading and frying eggplant here – grilling adds a nice smokey flavor to the thin slices ~ with no messy clean up!
Adding a teaspoon of Garlicky-Parmesan Breadcrumbs on top of each roll is a great trick I love… has the deep flavor of frying with a fraction of calories and fat.
Garlic lovers will delight over these hearty eggplant roll-ups – garlic is added to the grilled eggplant slices, and the crunchy topping.
Eggplant is sweet and tender during the warm summer months – choose some that are firm, hard and heavy for their size. I enjoy buying them from farmers’ markets where they are bound to be “just picked.”
Eggplant Nutrition:
Eggplants, also known as aubergines, contain anthocyanins, compounds that belong to a class of naturally occurring phytochemicals known as flavonoids. Flavonoids are present in many plant-based foods. Mainly known for its high antioxidant content, which provides a wide variety of health benefits.
Contains almost no fat, no cholesterol, and few calories.
Some Interesting Eggplant Facts:
While widely considered a vegetable, eggplant is actually a berry.
Eggplant is related to tomatoes. They’re both part of the nightshade family.
Believed to have originated in India, where it is still considered the king of vegetables and is important in Indian diets.
Salting and rinsing eggplant can remove the plant’s bitterness. Today, eggplant is not as bitter as it used to be, but this practice is still useful. Salting will, however, reduce the amount of oil absorbed during cooking.
An eggplant is more than 90% water. This high water content means it has very few calories. In fact, 100 grams of raw eggplant will contain only 24 calories, along with 14% your daily fiber needs.
China is the biggest eggplant producer in the world.
Like so many Italian-Style casserole dishes – they always taste better the second day.. and reheats well.
Enjoy the summer-comfort recipe!
Karen
