Notes:
1. Measure
the ricotta into a fine strainer then put the strainer over a small bowl. Put the strainer, bowl, and cheese into the refrigerator
and leave it there for a few hours to get rid of the liquid. You can do this in the morning before going
to work or right when you get home unless you are planning on eating right
away. You don’t want to press down on the
cheese because that will force the ricotta through the strainer but maybe if
you put it in cheese cloth then compressed it you could get rid of the
liquid. I never tried the cheese cloth
method so if you do, let me know how it comes out.
2. Make
sure you check the expiration date of the eggs because they don’t have to small
to be bad.
3. To
help protect against bad eggs and having egg shells in things, crack each egg
into a small bowl then empty the bowl into whatever you are working from. If you
are using two or more eggs, do this each time.
4. To
save time the day you plan to eat these, cook the eggplants (steps 2 thru 9)
earlier and put them in the refrigerator.
5. Straining
the spinach isn’t all that difficult.
Take it out of the packages, put the spinach into a strainer, put
the strainer into a bowl or sink, and
forget it for a while. You can do this
in the morning and put the strainer and bowl into the refrigerator in the
morning and it should be good at dinner time.
If it is still a little frozen just break the spinach up with your
hands, leave it in the strainer, and put the whole think in the sink or on the
counter until you need it. Still overly
wet? Then squeeze it over the sink with your
hands. You don’t want it bone dry, just
get rid of the bulk of the moisture.
Ingredients
·
3 1/2 cups of ricotta chees
·
Olive oil, to coat pans
·
2 good sized eggplants
·
Course salt
·
5 eggs
·
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
·
About a cup or two of All-purpose flour
·
2 12 oz. packages of frozen spinach, thawed and
strained
·
1 ½ tsp of minced garlic or 3 finely chopped
cloves
·
3/4 cup grated Romano or Parmesan or buy a combo
of the two in a package
·
3 1/2 cups tomato sauce
·
2 to 3 cups of shredded mozzarella
Directions
1. Prepare
the ricotta as in Note 1. You can then discard
the excess liquid or use it for something else like the liquid in a ricotta
bread,
2. Preheat
your oven to 350 degrees F,
3. Spray
a baking or cookie sheet with olive oil.
If you have them, spray 3 sheets and if you don’t, don’t worry because
the cooking stage can be done in several stages,
4. Wash
the eggplants and cut off the ends. Put one of the cut sides down on your
cutting board and slice downward, about ¼ inch strips. You are not cutting little circles but
instead you are cutting lengthwise. This
should result in about 15 pieces,
5. Shake
some course salt on each slice then put the slices on a cooling rack or at
least a towel. The salt will draw out
some of the moisture. They should be
left alone for 15 minutes or so but if you don’t have the time just eliminate
this step.
6. Crack
4 eggs into a bowl, season with small amounts of salt and pepper, then beat
them slightly just enough to crack the yolks and combine the eggs,
7. Pour
the flour on to a small dish but not a coffee cup dish, that would be too
small. You can use a dinner plate if you
want,
8. Dredge
each eggplant slice through the flour, then dip it into the beaten eggs, drain
any excess egg mixture back into the eggs, and lay the slice on baking sheet. Do this with each slice until you have filled
the baking sheet but not overcrowded it.
If you can’t or don’t want to cook everything at one time, don’t worry,
you can do them in batches,
9. Bake
the eggplant slices until they are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer the slices to some cool baking
sheets or dishes and let them cool to about room temperature. You see, doing these in batches doesn’t do
much more than add 15 minutes per batch,
10. Crack the
last egg into a small dish, possibly the one you used for the four eggs
earlier,
11. Combine
spinach, ricotta, remaining egg, garlic, and 1/2 cup of the grated Romano,
Parmesan, or mixture in a bowl. Add some salt and pepper to your liking and mix
everything completely.
12. Spoon about
1 cup of the tomato sauce onto the bottom of a small baking dish.
13. Spoon 1 or
2 tablespoons of filling onto the wide end of each piece of eggplant dependent
on the size of the slice.
14. Roll up
each slice lightly and put them into the baking dish with the ends, not edges,
down. If need be, use a toothpick to
hold them together but remember to remove the toothpicks before serving,
15. Pour the
rest of the tomato sauce, then the shredded mozzarella, and remaining grated Parmesan
on top of everything,
16. Cover with
foil and bake for 45 minutes, until the tomato sauce is bubbling and the
filling is hot,
17. Let everything
them rest for 15 minutes before serving to let the juices and all settle and
merge.