I made this on April 3, 2025 after hearing that Ezra had gotten this dish at Theresa’s in Princeton and had liked it. Tonight, Ezra loved it, Dan loved it, Randi loved it, and I loved it. Randi and Ezra both said it was better than Theresa’s!!!!
Today is April 16, 2025, and I just found out that Ezra is requesting this for tomorrow night, so I just bought all the ingredients! I’m so happy!
Make filling by mixing following ingredients in a medium bowl:
15 oz. whole milk ricotta
1 egg
About 1 cup shredded whole milk mozzarella
About ½ cup good parm (I used grana padano)
Lots of black pepper
About 12 leaves basil chiffonaded
Next:
3 medium eggplant, peeled and sliced thinly ¼ in.
(I cut about 18 planks)
Mix 3 eggs in large bowl. Add the planks of eggplant to the egg.
Make breadcrumb mixture of breadcrumbs, parmesan, lots of black pepper, and some Italian seasoning.
Then coat eggplant plants well on both sides with bread crumb mixture. Set aside on foil lined sheet pan.
Heat sunflower or light olive oil in large frying pan to a depth of about 1/4 inch. When oil is starting to shimmer, it’s ready.
Fry eggplant till nicely browned on both sides and drain on paper towels.
Coat bottom of 9 by 13 with marinara sauce (Mezzetta). (I use about 1 1/2 jars total or about 36 oz. for the entire recipe)
Let fried eggplant cool.
Put a big tablespoon of the ricotta mixture at the end of each plank. Roll up and put in pan seam side down on top of marinara sauce.
Put lots of dollops of sauce all over the tops of the rolls.
Sprinkle well with parmesan. I also sprinkle very lightly with red pepper flakes and oregano.
Sprinkle with about 12 oz. of whole milk grated mozzarella cheese on top of the rolls. Then put more dollops of sauce on top of the mozzarella and in between the rolls.
Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate till ready to cook.
Put oven on 375 degrees. Keep foil on for about 45 min. Then take foil off and add more sauce if it looks too dry (it did). Cook another 15 min. till bubbly. Let set a few minutes before serving.
