Vegetarian Italian Food - Eggplant Marinara

If you are a fan of Italian cuisine and you love all types of pizza and pasta, why not try a vegetarian dish? The following recipe for eggplant marinara is guaranteed to please you because the flavors go so well together.

This recipe features garlic, tomatoes, basil and three kinds of Italian cheese for an authentic taste of Italy. The vegetables add flavor, nutrients, and you can serve this with a salad on the side. This recipe makes enough to serve eight people.

Vegetarian Dishes

Eggplant is a flavorful vegetable but it is not one of the most common ones. It gives flavor to a lot of famous dishes including Greek moussaka. It can have a bitter flavor, which some people dislike.

This is not so noticeable in stews or highly flavored dishes but if the eggplant is the main ingredient in the meal or if you are serving it alone, it can be a problem. To remove the bitterness, you should sprinkle salt over the vegetable and leave it to "sweat" for half an hour. Then you can brush the salt away. The way this works is that the salt sucks out the chemical responsible for the bitterness.

An alternative method would be to slice the vegetable and then chill the slices for four hours. Thaw the slices and press out the water using your hands. This process makes the flesh more delicate so for the following recipe use the salt because the slices do need to hold their shape when you roll them up.

What You Need:

1 lb ricotta 1/2 lb thinly sliced mozzarella 5 minced cloves garlic 1 oz finely chopped parsley 10 finely shredded basil leaves 6 oz tomato paste 1/2 cup all purpose wheat flour Cooking spray 4 oz parmesan Cracker meal 2 peeled eggplants 2 beaten eggs 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1 tablespoon olive oil 5 lbs peeled, blanched tomatoes

How To Make It:

Heat the olive oil in a skillet covered with cooking spray and saute the garlic. Stir in the tomatoes and tomato paste and cook for twenty to thirty minutes over a moderate heat, stirring a few times. Sprinkle the shredded basil over the top, and then add the grated cheese and pepper. Take the mixture off the heat.

Combine the ricotta and parsley. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Slice the eggplants lengthwise into quarter inch slices, then sprinkle salt over them. Leave them to stand for thirty minutes, then dip them in egg and dredge them in cracker meal. Bake for ten to fifteen minutes or until they are tender.

Put a slice of mozzarella and a scoop of ricotta in the center of each slice of eggplant and roll them up. Arrange the eggplant rolls seam side-down in a cooking spray-coated baking pan. Pour the marinara sauce over the top and bake for twenty five or thirty minutes. Garnish with grated cheese and parsley and serve hot.

Vegetarian Italian Food - Eggplant Marinara

If you enjoy the flavor of Italy you might like to try some delicious homemade pizza recipes. There are lots of types of pizza to choose from, literally something for everybody who enjoys pizza.

GreatPizzaRecipes.com You Make the Pizza, We Help You Make It Great!

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