A typical Italian rollatini or rolatini has ricotta, parmesan and other cheeses and sometimes the eggplants are dipped in egg before pan frying. I cut out the dairy and eggs in this recipe to keep this rollatini vegan. Not using cheese also lightens this dish up considerably. Instead of the cheese, I stuffed the rollatini with a delicious toasted pine nut couscous that Near East sent me to sample.

Take 2 medium eggplants. Cut off the stem end. Slice the eggplant lengthwise into 1/4th inch thick pieces. Discard the two end slices which have too much skin. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the slices

Pan fry the eggplant pieces in a skillet with a little olive oil, till they are golden (sorry, no photo!). Then place the slices on a work surface. Place a spoon of cooked pine nut couscous on one end of the eggplant.

Roll. Repeat.

Place the stuffed and rolled eggplant onto a baking dish that has been spread with margarine or olive oil. Place any extra couscous in the center of the baking dish and inbetween the eggplant rolls. Sprinkle chopped parsley or basil.

Pour a cup of marinara sauce over. Non vegans: sprinkle 3/4 cup of mozzarella cheese at this stage. Bake till bubbling.

Eggplant Rollatini stuffed with Couscous and Pine nuts Recipe

serves about 2

2 medium eggplants
salt and pepper
1/2 cup couscous, uncooked
4 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
2 tablespoons chopped basil or parsley
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce, use more if you like it saucy
2 tablespoons margarine or olive oil + more to cook eggplants

Pre heat oven to 375f.

Cut eggplant lengthwise into 1/4th inch thick strips. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Pan fry the strips on a little olive oil till both sides are golden.

Cook the couscous according to package instructions. Mix in the toasted pine nuts to the couscous.

Place a spoon of the the couscous on one end of an eggplant piece, and roll it. See pictures and instructions above. Repeat with all eggplant strips. Place the stuffed and rolled eggplants onto a baking dish that has been rubbed with a little margarine. Add any left over couscous to the baking dish. Sprinkle basil or parsley on top. Then pour marinara sauce over. Non vegans can add 3/4 cups of shredded mozzarella. Bake till the sauce is bubbly, about 15 minutes.

Note: If you dont want to bother with rolling the eggplants, layer the eggplant, couscous and marinara sauce to make vegan eggplant and couscous lasagna!