Baked rice with eggplant and mozzarella, a tasty and easy rice timbale that will please even those who don’t like eggplant, because it’s truly delicious eggplant recipes — new and indulgent.
My family adores rice timbales like Baked rice with zucchini and pancetta or Baked rice with spinach and I love cooking them in different ways, varying seasonal vegetables. Today I share with you one of my favorite versions, the one with eggplant and mozzarella. A recipe full of flavor and super-melty, perfect for an original summer risotto that will win everyone’s palate. A really easy and quick dish, ideal to make the whole family happy with very little effort and that will disappear from the table in an instant!!
Are you ready to follow me in the kitchen? Let’s go, let’s discover how to make baked rice with eggplant and pancetta, but before heading to the kitchen I remind you that if you want to stay updated on all my recipes, you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here).
Take a look:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 5-6 servings
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant (large)
- 1 onion (large)
- to taste Salt
- to taste Extra-virgin olive oil
- 14 oz Tomato pulp (or strained tomatoes (passata))
- 1 3/4 cups Carnaroli rice (or risotto rice)
- 14 oz mozzarella (pasta filata, caciotta or provola)
- 3.5 oz Grana Padano, grated (or Parmesan (about 1 cup))
Tools
- Pot
- Baking dish
Preparation of baked rice with eggplant
For this recipe use a good quality pizza mozzarella, or caciotta, mild provola or scamorza, or in any case a pasta filata cheese.
To make the baked rice with eggplant, peel the onion, chop it and sauté it in plenty of olive oil. Add the eggplants (washed, stem removed and cut into very small dice), season with salt and let them soften over medium heat, stirring often.
When they are well browned, add the tomato, adjust salt and cook for ten minutes over moderate heat.
Add the rice, stir and gradually begin to add boiling water, waiting for it to be absorbed between additions.
Bring it almost to cooking point; when the rice is al dente, adjust salt, turn off the heat, add the grated cheese, stir and add half of the provola or the soft cheese you chose, mix well.
Pour half of the rice into a baking dish, add some of your diced cheese, cover with the remaining rice and distribute the remaining cheese on top.
Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 356°F, just enough to lightly gratin the surface. Remove from the oven, let it rest for about ten minutes and serve still warm and melty.
Storage notes and tips
If eaten right after it comes out of the oven, the rice will be creamy and melty and not overcooked. If you let it rest longer, it will take on the consistency of a timbale as it absorbs the liquids. Even then it will still be a good dish to bring to the table, perhaps for a picnic.
Store any leftovers in the refrigerator, well sealed in an airtight container and consume within 24 hours after reheating.
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