Eggplant Involtini

It was a lovely Sunday dinner with a few girlfriends. We have gotten together every Sunday for 5 years now. It is a fun time, where we catch up on the week, support each other, and bring to the table delicious creations, complete with appetizer, salad, entreé, dessert, and of course, wine! I highly recommend it. The person who hosts prepares the entreé. The remaining items are brought by the rest.


Recipe for Sunday Dinner


Ingredients:


Lots of Good food
Lots of gossip (usually work related)
Great wine
Friendship


Serve immediately and enjoy!



As the host of the Sunday dinner, I prepared the entree, which was inspired from Food and Wine magazine. It was a recipe for Eggplant Involtini ("stuffed," Italian) but I completely re-created it, using fresh ingredients that I had from Sunday Farmer's Market.


Eggplant Involtini with Feta and Red Peppers



4 servings



Ingredients:


1 small onion chopped
1/4 cup feta cheese (try Trader Joe's fat free feta - it is very flavorful)
1/2 cup chopped tomato
1/2 cup tomato sauce (I used a home-made sauce from my friend, Amanda)
3 long eggplants thinly-sliced length-wise
1 red pepper chopped
1/8 cup sun-dried tomatoes






Recipe:


1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Meanwhile, put the sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl with 1/2 cup hot water. Allow to rehydrate for 20 min. After the tomatoes are rehydrated, retain the liquid and finely dice the tomatoes.
3. After thinly slicing the eggplants, spray with olive/canola oil lightly. Roast in the oven for 15-20 min until lightly brown (particularly on the bottom). Save and chop the parts of the eggplant that could not be thinly sliced. Retain for the next step.
4. While the eggplants are in the oven, add the onions to a fry pan. Once the onions are lightly browned, add the chopped eggplant and red peppers to the pan. Cook for 5-8 min until softened. 
5. Add the chopped tomatoes (fresh and sun-dried), tomato sauce, and 1/4 cup of the reserved liquid from the sun-dried tomatoes to the pan. Cook and season with salt and pepper. Most of the liquid should cook off during this part.
6. Pre-heat the broiler or the oven to 500 degrees F.
7. To assemble an involtini, lay the eggplant flat on a cutting board. Fill with a small amount of the cooked vegetables. Lay in a roasting pan.
8. Top all of the assembled involtini with remaining vegetables, additional tomato sauce, and feta cheese. Broil for 5-8 min until browned on top. 

Lots of different veggies and cheese combinations will work well here. I would definitely try goat cheese! Enjoy!