Eggplant Rolls with Casarecce and Béchamel
In the heart of Sicily, there was a noblewoman Anna Tasca Lanza passionate about food, who was fortunate to witness the experiments of cuisine imported by the Bourbons, very different from the Sicilian peasant one, because it uses butter and not oil, of French inspiration, then revisited by the flair of the Sicilians.
From the fusion of these two worlds come the home-cooked recipes of the Sicilian aristocracy, made of eggplant rolls, stuffed with béchamel.
Today, it is our task to revisit these dishes, making them closer to the needs of modern, hectic life, but also more diet-friendly, as, in a time when everything abounds, we are forced, unlike our ancestors, to pay attention to our waistlines and especially our health.
I will not fry the Eggplants but bake them instead.

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Difficulty: Very Easy
Cost: Cheap
Preparation time: 30 Minutes
Portions: 6
Cooking methods: Electric Oven
Cuisine: Regional Italian
Seasonality: All Seasons

495.46 Kcal

calories per serving

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Energy 495.46 (Kcal)
Carbohydrates 55.27 (g) of which sugars 7.90 (g)
Proteins 19.53 (g)
Fat 24.07 (g) of which saturated 10.40 (g)of which unsaturated 5.06 (g)
Fibers 6.42 (g)
Sodium 463.64 (mg)

Indicative values for a portion of 300 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA^* and FoodData Central^** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.

^* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ^** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov

Ingredients

Let’s go shopping

2.2 lbs black oval eggplants (or long violet)
10.5 oz casarecce
Half onion (red from Tropea)
to taste Extra virgin olive oil
to taste Salt
to taste Pepper
14 fl oz Tomato sauce
6 leaves Basil
7 oz Provola cheese
10.5 oz béchamel (click here)

Eggplant Rolls with Casarecce

Tools

What we need to make

2 Baking Sheets (large rectangular)
1 Baking Sheet medium rectangular
1 Pot
Cutting Board
Food Processor
Knife
Parchment Paper

Preparation of Eggplant Rolls with Casarecce and Béchamel

Wash the eggplants, remove the stem, and slice them lengthwise, about 0.2 inches thick.
In an oven tray, place the parchment paper, then arrange the slices seasoned with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste.
Bake them at 356°F for 20 minutes, in the meantime, prepare the béchamel.
To prepare the béchamel, heat the milk in a saucepan, separately melt the butter over low heat, then turn off the heat and add the flour all at once, stirring with a whisk to avoid lumps.
Then put it back on low heat and stir until it becomes golden.
You will have obtained what the French call roux; flavor the milk with nutmeg and a pinch of salt (you can perform these steps as the last step, when the béchamel is ready);
Pour a little hot milk onto the roux to temper the base, then also add the rest, stirring the mixture vigorously with a whisk.
Now the eggplants will be ready, take them out of the oven and let them cool, and in the meantime, let’s cook the sauce.
In the pot, add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and the onion cut into pieces.
Let it sauté for 2 minutes, then…
Pour in the sauce,
Adjust for salt and, if necessary, a pinch of sugar, stir and..
Cover 3/4 of the pot, lower the heat, and let it cook for 20 minutes, meanwhile heat the water for the pasta.
Chop the provola
and set it aside.
Drop the pasta, adjust it for salt, and cook it to 3/4 of the cooking time.
Then drain it and cool it with cold water, stopping the cooking.
Put the pasta back in its pot, and add half of the tomato sauce, and half of the béchamel. Stir.
Now, on each slice of eggplant, put a bit of pasta, and a bit of provola, about half.
Then roll them up.
In a smaller baking tray, place the parchment paper, and half of the remaining sauce.
Place the rolls, distributing the sauce, and the remaining béchamel over them.
Finally, top with the rest of the provola.
Put in a preheated oven at 356°F for 15 minutes.
Here are your Eggplant Rolls with Casarecce and Béchamel.