BAKED OR AIR FRIED EGGPLANT ROLLS, the delicious main dish with stuffed eggplants, easy and quick to make that you must try. Crunchy outside with a gooey and flavorful heart, these eggplant rolls with ham, cheese, and seasoned breadcrumbs will be a hit at the table! These eggplant rolls are amazing, with a rich, tasty, and fragrant filling, they are delicious to eat hot, fresh out of the oven, with that gooey center, or cold, as they remain perfect! Prepare them too, they are also great to serve as an appetizer, or if you have a dinner planned with friends, these cannot be missed. You can choose to cook the rolls in the oven or in an air fryer, as I did, they will come out great with both methods. With the air fryer, cooking time is reduced by a few minutes, since I discovered it, I can’t stop using it! Now follow me in the recipe for stuffed eggplant rolls cooked in the oven or air fryer, I’m sure once you try them, you’ll love them!
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- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Cooking time: 20 Minutes
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients for eggplant rolls
- 1 black oval eggplant (if small, two)
- 3 slices white bread
- to taste parsley
- to taste basil
- 1 clove garlic (optional)
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- 3.5 oz cooked ham (in slices)
- 3.5 oz scamorza cheese
- to taste salt
- 2 tbsps grated Parmesan cheese
Steps
Start by washing and drying the eggplant. I used a large one, but two smaller ones will work too, though the rolls will be smaller. Once dried, slice the eggplant into thin strips lengthwise.
Now grill the eggplant. You can do this in the oven by placing them on a large baking sheet with parchment paper, drizzle with a little olive oil, and bake in a preheated convection oven at 375°F for 10 minutes.
If instead, you’re using an air fryer, proceed by making multiple layers of eggplant in the air fryer basket, lightly oiling each layer. Use an oil spray bottle, just a few sprays on each layer are enough. Cook at 355°F for 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine bread slices, parsley, basil, garlic, salt, Parmesan cheese and blend until crumbly.
Take the eggplant slices and fill them one by one. Lay down the eggplant, add some of the blended bread topping, then a piece of cheese, a slice of ham, more breadcrumbs, and then roll tightly, securing with two toothpicks at each end.
Repeat with all the eggplant slices, reserving a little of the breadcrumb mixture, about two to three tablespoons. Now the rolls are ready to be cooked. If using the oven, place the eggplant rolls in a baking dish with parchment paper, close together, cover with the remaining breadcrumb mixture, drizzle with a little oil, and bake in a preheated convection oven at 355°F for about 15-17 minutes.
If you want to cook the rolls in an air fryer, place the rolls either on the air fryer basket with parchment paper (specific for air fryers) or in a dish that fits in your air fryer, always with parchment paper.
Place the rolls close together, cover with the remaining breadcrumb topping, drizzle with a little oil, and cook in the air fryer at 355°F for 10 minutes.
Once cooked, place the eggplant rolls on a plate, remove the toothpicks, and serve. They are delicious with the crispy and fragrant breadcrumb topping and a gooey, flavorful center.
… Vane’s tips
You can also grill the eggplant slices on a griddle, but I found the other method faster.
You can use whole grain bread or gluten-free bread.
For the filling, you can substitute the scamorza cheese with another type of cheese and the ham with speck, salami, or mortadella, etc.
