Eggplant Rolls
I am a big fan of eggplant - specially when its paired with Mediterranean flavors or used in a stir fry. Its tendency to turn into a butter like flavor and texture is what I like the most.
In this recipe I baked thin slices of eggplant and turned into rolls after stuffing them with some home-made hummus. yum!
Because eggplant has such porous skin, it absorbs a lot of oil while cooking. But when you cook it in the oven (instead of a stove top), you can get away with just brushing the slices with some oil and seasoning it with some salt. The salt makes it release all the moisture while its cooking in the oven and helps it cook in a lot less amount of oil.
You can deep fry the slices or cook them on a stove top if you want - but that will mean more oil for sure.
I used one of my classic hummus recipes to make the filling for the rolls and just added some fresh mint leaves and some chili flakes. The combination of the eggplant with hummus was just brilliant!
You can serve these rolls as an appetizer, enjoy it with you evening coffee/tea or if you want to make a wholesome meal out of it - you can serve it over a bed of couscous and pair with any of your favorite sauce. I made some tomato sauce to make it a complete meal. It is definitely a very impressive vegan appetizer that’s loaded with a lot of flavor.
Serving about 16 rolls
Cooking time 1 hour
Things you will need:
2 medium size eggplants, cut lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick slices
1 1/2 cup classic hummus
1/4 cup fresh mint, roughly chopped
2 tsp chili flakes
2 tbs olive + extra for cooking eggplant
juice of 1/2 a lemon
salt and pepper
Preheat the oven at 350F. On the baking try line up the eggplant slices and brush their surface with some olive oil. Sprinkle some salt and pepper and bake them for about 30 minutes or till the slices turn soft and slightly golden in color. Take out from the oven and let cool.
For the stuffing: In a separate bowl mix together - hummus, mint and chili flakes.
In another small bowl mix together 2 tbs olive oil and lemon juice with some salt. Whisk well till it turn into an opaque liquid.
To assemble the rolls: Take a cooked slice of eggplant and smear some hummus mix onto its surface, starting from the small side roll up the eggplant to form a tight roll. Repeat the process with all the slices. Drizzle some of the olive oil, lemon juice mixture over the rolls before serving.
Wow, this sounds SO GOOD. I love eggplants and hummus, but have never thought of combining them like this… what a perfect appetizer/side dish/meal! : ) Also it is definitely nice to have an eggplant recipe that doesn’t involve a lot of oil (or letting them sit in salt and then rinsing them first); thanks!
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yes, this recipe is towards the healthier side. Thanks!
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Gorgeous! What an absolutely delicious idea - fantastic photos as usual :D
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Thank you, the hummus can be substituted with a different variety of cheeses. But I really like hummus due to the flavor and calorie content.
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Looks Friggin Good! :)
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I’ve made eggplant rolls before for my parents! They didn’t turn out as pretty as out though lol. It was my second time cooking and I quartered them instead of cutting them into strips… I’m much better at baking! More rules, less intuition.
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Oh really?! the strips didn’t work out for you? Did you cut them too thin or bake them too long? If the slices are too thin they tend to get really dark (while baking)
and stiff - that’s when its a pain to fold them.
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The sections ended up being too thick actually so they weren’t thin enough to wrap :-/ The actual dish tasted great, it was chicken with various other veggies like onion and garlic wrapped in eggplant with a tomato sauce drizzled on it! Of course since I cut the eggplant wrong it kind of ended up being chicken, veggies and a rather uncooperative eggplant slice…
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@Dorje: Oh ok, actually in this dish the hummus acts as a glue to put the roll together. With chicken, onion and other veggies some cheese would have done the trick..plus the right thickness of the eggplant of course. I feel you should give it another try! :)
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Loved this one. Will try it soon! thank you for sharing it!
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Thanks Vini, do share your thoughts on the recipe after you try it.
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