Eggplant Rollatini over Gnocchi (gluten free)

I know eggplant isn't everybody's cup of tea...But our family happens to love it!....Especially my husband, when I want to make him his favorite dish I make him eggplant parmesan.......Recently we went to an Italian restaurant in Florida and I ordered this dish!.....They served rolled eggplant stuffed with ricotta over a bed of Gnocchi......It was so unbelievably good I knew I had to try and recreate it......and I wanted to try and make it gluten free, which I did, and you would never know!....You could also make this regular with normal gnocchi and flour, those are the 2 things I replaced for gluten free options in this recipe, I also added finely diced fresh spinach to my ricotta mixture, this can be omitted also if you like.....Here is what I did...Enjoy!

 

INGREDIENTS

 

1 Eggplant

3 eggs

1 cup Flour

salt and pepper

 

FILLING

 

1 16 ounce container Ricotta Cheese

1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese

1 egg

11/2 - 2 Cups diced fresh spinach

salt and pepper

Mix all together in a bowl and set aside

 

Olive oil (for frying)

 

Pasta Sauce (I used my home made)

 

Mozzarella Cheese

 

DIRECTIONS

 

1. Prepare Eggplant by cutting off top stem and slicing with Mandolin lengthwise

 

2. Add slices to a colander and salt them, let them drain then pat dry with paper towel

 

3.In 2 shallow dishes add flour with salt and pepper to one and the 3 beaten eggs to the other

4.Take a slice of eggplant (being sure it is dry) and dredge it in flour first , then dip in egg

5. Add  2 Tablespoons olive oil to skillet and start frying eggplant slices until golden

 

6. Drain cooked slices on paper towel and set aside

 

 

7. Add filling down center of the fried eggplant and start rolling

 

8. Add rolls to a baking dish that you have ladled enough pasta sauce to cover the bottom

 

9. Finish rolling all of the slices and add to dish....Ladle more sauce over top then sprinkle with parmesan cheese

 

 

10. Cover and bake for about 30 minutes .....once cooked sprinkle with shredded mozzarella and bake uncovered until melted

 

Serve eggplant over Gnocchi or any other pasta with sauce that you may like

 

I used these gluten free Gnocchi

 

ENJOY!!