Eggplant Involtini with White Bean Ricotta and Tomato
Broiled eggplant slices rolled around ricotta mashed with cannellini beans, basil, and lemon, set in a garlicky tomato sauce and run back under the broiler.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Involtini usually means an afternoon: eggplant salted and drained, then fried slice by slice, then baked. I wanted the same dinner on a weeknight, so the eggplant goes under the broiler on a sheet pan instead, brushed with olive oil, and comes out tender and pliable in about ten minutes with none of the standing over a pan. That change is the whole recipe. Everything else is what it has always been, which is a very old southern Italian way of making a couple of vegetables and a tub of cheese feed a table of people properly.
The filling is where I do things a little differently. Ricotta on its own is soft and sweet and can be a bit thin, so I mash a can of cannellini beans into it with lemon zest, grated garlic, chopped basil, and parmesan. The beans give the filling body, so it stays put inside the roll rather than running out into the sauce, and they carry the seasoning better than cheese alone does. Roll the slices from the wide end, sit them seam side down in the tomato, and they hold together without a toothpick or a prayer.
It tastes slow and took half an hour. The eggplant goes silky, the filling sets into something almost like a dumpling, and the tomato underneath catches on the edges of the pan and turns sweet and dark. I serve it straight from the dish with a spoon, plenty of the sauce over each portion, and bread on the table for the bottom of the pan. It is the dinner I make when somebody is coming over and I got home at six.
Ingredients
- 2 large eggplants (about 1 3/4 lb total), stems trimmed, sliced lengthwise 1/4 inch thick
- 1 1/4 cups part-skim ricotta
- 1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (14 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 1/3 cup finely grated parmesan
- 3/4 cup fresh basil leaves, half chopped and half left whole
- 4 garlic cloves, 3 thinly sliced and 1 grated
- 2 1/2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 2 tsp lemon juice, plus the grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
- Scant 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
- Broil the eggplant: Heat the broiler with a rack 6 inches beneath it. Lay the eggplant slices on a sheet pan in a single layer, brush both sides with 1 1/2 tbsp of the olive oil, and season lightly with the salt. Broil for 5 minutes, turn each slice, and broil 4 to 5 minutes more. They are ready when they are bronzed in patches and floppy enough to fold without cracking, since a slice with any stiffness left in it will split the moment you roll it.
- Make the sauce: While the eggplant broils, warm the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the sliced garlic, the oregano, and the cayenne and cook for 1 minute, until the garlic is fragrant and just turning gold. Pour in the crushed tomatoes, bring to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes, until slightly thickened. Pour it into a baking dish in an even layer.
- Mash the filling: In a bowl, mash the cannellini beans roughly with a fork, leaving plenty of texture. Fold in the ricotta, the grated garlic, the lemon zest and juice, the chopped basil, half the parmesan, and the black pepper. Taste it and adjust. It should be thick enough to sit on a spoon without sliding off.
- Roll them up: Lay a slice of eggplant flat with the wide end nearest you, put a heaping tablespoon of filling across that end, and roll it away from you into a fat cylinder. Set each one seam side down in the tomato sauce, packed snugly against its neighbors, so they hold their shape rather than unrolling as they heat. You should get about twelve rolls from two eggplants.
- Back under the heat: Scatter the remaining parmesan over the rolls and slide the dish under the broiler for 4 to 6 minutes, until the tops are spotted brown and the sauce is bubbling hard around the edges. Let it settle for 3 minutes off the heat, then tear the whole basil leaves over the top and serve with the sauce spooned around.
Variations
- Spinach in the filling: Wilt a few handfuls of spinach, squeeze it dry, chop it, and fold it through the ricotta for a greener, denser roll.
- Mint and chile: Swap the basil for mint and double the cayenne, which pushes the dish toward the Sicilian end of the map.
- Chickpea filling: Use chickpeas rather than cannellini beans for a coarser, nuttier filling that holds its shape even more firmly.
- Mozzarella top: Tear a ball of fresh mozzarella over the rolls before broiling for a stringier, richer finish.
- Olive and caper sauce: Stir chopped kalamata olives and a spoonful of capers into the tomato for a sharper, saltier sauce.
Storage & Leftovers
These keep four days in a sealed container in the refrigerator and they are one of the few things I like better on day two. The eggplant goes softer, the filling firms up in the cold, and the tomato works its way into both, so every roll tastes of the sauce rather than sitting in it.
Reheat them covered in a 375°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or in a covered skillet over medium-low with a spoonful of water in the bottom. Keep them covered so the eggplant steams rather than drying out, and take the lid off for the last two minutes if you want the tops to firm up again.
They freeze for up to three months, and the assembled dish freezes better than the leftovers do. Build it, stop before the broiler, and freeze it covered. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, bake at 375°F for 25 minutes, then broil the top for the last few minutes to get the color back.
Notes & Tips
- Cut the slices evenly: A quarter inch across the board means they all broil in the same time. Thick slices stay stiff and thin ones fall apart, and you find out only when you try to roll them.
- Brush, do not pour: Eggplant is a sponge and will drink every drop of oil you give it. A brush puts a thin coat on both sides, which is all it needs to bronze.
- Leave the beans coarse: Mashed to a paste they turn the filling gluey. A rough mash with a fork keeps flecks of whole bean, which is what gives the roll its texture.
- Seam side down: The weight of the roll holds the seam shut against the dish, so nothing unravels in the heat. Packed snugly together, they hold each other up as well.
- Watch the broiler: Four minutes browns the tops and six can scorch the basil in the filling. Stay at the oven door and pull the dish as soon as the sauce bubbles hard.
- Rest before serving: Three minutes off the heat lets the filling set, so the rolls lift out whole rather than collapsing on the spoon.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- Eggplant, ricotta, and white beans are the three things holding this dish up. The eggplant goes silky and does the wrapping, the ricotta makes the filling soft and rich, and the beans give it enough body and protein for a plate of vegetables to eat like a dinner.
- Cannellini beans mashed with a fork bring fiber and a mild, creamy starch that keeps the filling from running, and they carry the lemon and garlic through the whole roll in a way cheese on its own would not.
- Ricotta is a fresh, sweet cheese that stays soft under heat, and it brings calcium along with the protein that helps this hold you through the evening.
- Eggplant broiled rather than fried keeps its shape and takes on a smoky edge at the browned patches, and its soft fiber is the gentle sort that suits a stomach that finds tougher vegetables hard work.
- Garlic bloomed in olive oil, dried oregano, and a quarter teaspoon of cayenne are what make a plain can of tomatoes taste like a sauce that simmered all afternoon, and the lemon zest in the filling keeps the richness in check.
- As you eat, notice the way the smoky edge of the eggplant plays against the cool lemon in the filling, and let the rolls come apart slowly on the fork rather than cutting through three at once.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to salt the eggplant first?
Not for this method. Salting draws out moisture and old bitterness, which mattered when eggplants were seedier than they are now and when the slices were going into a pan of hot oil. Under a broiler the moisture cooks off on its own, and skipping the step is most of what makes this a thirty-minute dinner.
My slices tore when I rolled them. What went wrong?
They were underdone. Eggplant needs to be properly floppy before it will roll, so if a slice cracks at the fold, give the pan another two or three minutes under the broiler. Cutting too thin is the other cause, since paper-thin slices fall apart. A quarter inch is the number to aim for.
Can I use zucchini?
Yes, and it is very good, though it behaves differently. Slice it lengthwise on a mandoline, broil it for about half as long, and expect a looser roll, since zucchini is wetter and less sturdy. Drain the slices on a paper towel before you fill them or the sauce will thin out in the dish.
What do I serve with it?
A green salad with a sharp dressing and bread for the pan juices is all it needs at my table. If you are feeding a crowd, a bowl of small pasta tossed with olive oil sits well underneath the rolls and catches all the sauce.