Baked grilled eggplant rolls are an easy-to-make, tasty, and flavorful main dish. These are slices of eggplant that we first grill and then quickly bread with oil and aromatic breadcrumbs. We fill each slice with ham and cheese, and after rolling it, we get many small rolls that we gratinate in the oven until they are well golden and crispy with a soft and gooey filling.
The breading of the eggplants is without eggs and with aromatic breadcrumbs that are flavored with grated cheese and herbs such as oregano, but parsley and basil are also great. This way they become super fragrant. Moreover, the filling with ham and cheese is one that everyone always likes, and if someone doesn’t like it, just change it with what you prefer!
The preparation is very simple: we dip each grilled eggplant slice in oil and then in an aromatic breading made of breadcrumbs, grated cheese, oregano, salt, and pepper. We fill each eggplant slice with ham and smoked scamorza cheese, roll it up like a roll, and place all the obtained rolls in a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes in the oven or 20 minutes in an air fryer.
Here are some reasons to make these delicious baked grilled eggplant rolls:
• Cooking the eggplants is very simple: just use a grill and a hot plate or, alternatively, a non-stick pan. If you are used to cooking eggplants in quantity and keeping them in the fridge for when you need them, it will take less than 5 minutes to prepare these rolls.
• The breading is very simple and without eggs. Instead of eggs, we use extra virgin olive oil which will give a Mediterranean taste to the eggplants together with the aromatic breadcrumbs with cheese and herbs.
• The filling is very simple, but you can vary it with the ingredients you prefer, creating new and different rolls each time.
• Baking these rolls in the oven makes them crispy while keeping the filling soft and gooey. And if you don’t feel like turning on the oven due to the heat, you can opt for the air fryer or cook them in a pan with plenty of oil.
A perfect main course for both lunch and dinner, you just have to try these delicious baked grilled eggplant rolls.
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- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4 People
- Cooking methods: Oven, Grill
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Summer, Summer, Autumn
Ingredients for Baked Grilled Eggplant Rolls
- 2 eggplants (long)
- 7 oz cooked ham
- 7 oz smoked scamorza cheese
- 2 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
- 5 1/4 oz grated parmesan cheese (or grated pecorino)
- dried oregano
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- pepper
Tools for Baked Grilled Eggplant Rolls
- 1 Grill
- 2 Bowls
- 1 Baking tray
- Parchment paper
- 1 Oven
How to Make Baked Grilled Eggplant Rolls
Start preparing the baked grilled eggplant rolls by cooking the eggplants. Wash them, remove the stem, and cut them lengthwise into slices.
Heat a grill or, alternatively, a non-stick pan and cook each eggplant slice for a few minutes on each side. Let them cool down.
Prepare the breading for the eggplants by pouring olive oil into a bowl.
In another bowl, pour the breadcrumbs and add the grated cheese, oregano, salt, and pepper. Mix quickly.
Quickly dip each eggplant slice in the oil and gently shake it to remove excess oil.
Then pass them in the prepared breading, making sure it adheres perfectly to each eggplant slice.
Lay the eggplant slice on a cutting board or a plate and fill with one or two strips of cooked ham and smoked scamorza cheese. Cut both the cooked ham and smoked scamorza cheese to the size of the eggplant slice.
Roll each filled eggplant slice to form a roll.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper and place all the prepared rolls next to each other. Drizzle some more oil and bake in the preheated oven at 350°F for about 30 minutes.
Serve the baked grilled eggplant rolls hot.
You can store the cooked rolls in the fridge for 2-3 days. You can also freeze them.
You can also prepare them in advance in the morning to cook them in the evening (or in the evening for the next day’s lunch), always storing them in the fridge.
You can replace the cooked ham with another cold cut like speck, mortadella, or turkey breast. Alternatively, you can use slices of smoked salmon.
For a vegetarian filling, you can also omit the ham and use only cheese.
Instead of scamorza, you can use other types of cheese, such as Emmental, Gouda, or mozzarella slices.
If you want, you can also make a classic breading with eggs and breadcrumbs.
You can also cook these rolls in the air fryer for 20 minutes at 350°F.
If you don’t want to turn on the oven, you can also cook these rolls in a pan with oil. If you don’t want to fry them, just skip the breading and cook them with tomato sauce.
