Cheesy Eggplant Pork Roast Rolls

These cheesy eggplant pork roast rolls are filled with pork, eggplant and mozzarella, baked in a fresh tomato sauce, then topped with more cheese.

When you are just two people in a household, leftovers are a fact of life. This recipe is one I cooked quite a while back when it was just my husband and I alone in our empty nest. First we enjoyed a pork roast that I prepared with my sous vide precision cooker. It was fabulous but clearly too big for two. 

That’s when I had this idea. What if I rolled slices of pork with slices of eggplant and stuffed them with cheese? I couldn’t wait to try it and I was not disappointed. The rolls are tender and flavorful, especially cooked in a fresh garlicky tomato sauce.  

Cheesy Eggplant Pork Roast Rolls

I call these pork roast rolls because, as mentioned above, I used leftover pork roast from this sous vide recipe, but you can also substitute roast pork or beef from your nearby delicatessen or deli counter at the grocery store. I think they’d also be tasty with ham. 

Ingredients

For the rolls:

15 thin slices from the middle of two large eggplants

1 cup or 85g chopped eggplant

15 thin slices pork roast (about 1 1/2 lbs or 700g) 

1 cup or 135g roast pork, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped 

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne

3 1/2 oz or 100g mozzarella cheese, finely grated

8-10 leaves fresh basil, chiffonade (rolled and cut into thin strips)

For the fresh tomato sauce:

1 3/4 cups or 500g canned crushed tomatoes (+ 1/3 cup or water)

1 large clove garlic, chopped into slivers

8-10 leaves fresh basil, chiffonade (rolled and cut into thin strips)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

For the topping:

3 1/2 oz or 100g mozzarella, finely grated

1 3/4 oz or 50g Parmesan, finely grated

1/2 cup or 40g fresh bread crumbs

fresh ground black pepper

Note: You will have plenty of sliced eggplant leftover since only the best and biggest middle slices are suitable for this dish. Store them in an airtight container for another recipe. I’d like to suggest my mashup (in the musical sense) of pizza and Arabic flatbread: Manousah or my easy eggplant parmigiana. 

Method

Combine all of the ingredients for the fresh tomato sauce together in a mixing bowl.

Thinly slice your eggplant on a mandolin. 

When you get to the bottom of the eggplant, where it’s too hard to continue slicing, remove the peel with a sharp knife and chop the flesh into small cubes. As mentioned in the ingredients, you’ll need 1 cup or about 85g of chopped eggplant. Some of the narrower slices can also be used for this. 

In a saucepan with the olive oil, sauté the onions and garlic until they soften. Add in the chopped eggplant and chopped pork. 

Cook the mixture for about 10 minutes or until the eggplant has softened. Sprinkle on the cayenne. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Once it’s cooled, add in the basil and mozzarella and stir to combine.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and spoon in enough fresh tomato sauce to cover the bottom of your casserole dish.

Choose the best and biggest 15 slices of eggplant. 

Put one slice of pork roast on top of one slice of eggplant. Add about 2 tablespoons of the filling. 

Roll the eggplant and pork roast up, tucking the filling in as you go. Lay the roll end side down in the casserole dish. 

Continue stacking, filling and rolling until all of your eggplant pork roast rolls are assembled, adding them to the casserole dish as you go. 

Spoon the rest of the fresh tomato sauce over the top of the rolls. 

Cover the casserole with foil. Bake in your preheated oven for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, put your topping ingredients together in a small bowl and grind in some black pepper. Mix well. 

Remove the casserole from the oven. Sprinkle the topping on evenly and return the casserole to the oven, uncovered, for an additional 15 minutes or until the topping is golden and bubbling. 

Garnish the casserole with extra basil leaves.

Serve with a Parmesan wedge and grater on the side, in case anyone wants to add more.  

Enjoy! 

Today’s Sunday FunDay theme celebrates dairy so you’ll find lots of wonderful sweet and savory recipes below. Many thanks to our host Rebekah of Making Miracles. 

• Blackberry Peach Overnight Oats by Palatable Pastime
• Cheesy Eggplant Pork Roast Rolls by Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Pots de Creme by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Creamy Asparagus Soup with Ham Stock by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Creamy Steak Fettuccine by Making Miracles
• Doodh Poha/Rice Flakes In Milk by Sneha's Recipe
• Fresh Turmeric Chaas by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Homemade Chocolate Pudding by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Kesar Lassi (Saffron Lassi) by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Peanut Butter & Banana Ice Cream by Cooking With Carlee

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Shrimp Salad Finger Sandwiches

Shrimp salad finger sandwiches with tiny shrimp, green onions and slightly spicy pink sauce are perfect for a tea party, brunch or shower. 

I’ve made shrimp salad before but always with normal sized shrimp, chopped up. In fact, this curried version is one of my favorite dishes of all time. Until I happened to notice them in the freezer section of my local grocery store, I didn’t even know that salad shrimp were a thing. 

Apparently the only thing that makes them “salad shrimp” is their diminutive size. To be labeled salad shrimp there must be more than 60 per pound. Who knew? I can say they make a lovely shrimp salad! They were great in these little finger sandwiches or you could heap this shrimp salad in avocado halves as a starter for your next dinner party, whenever THAT is possible again.  

Shrimp Salad Finger Sandwiches

If you can’t find salad shrimp, by all means use bigger ones and just chop them up with a sharp knife. All shrimp are good shrimp. For those of you around the world who call them prawns, those work as well. 

Ingredients

12 oz or 340g salad shrimp, thawed and drained, if frozen

2 green onions

1/2 cup or 120ml mayonnaise

2 tablespoons ketchup

1/4 teaspoon English mustard powder

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon hot sauce – optional but highly recommended

10 slices sandwich bread (the square kind)

Method

Pop the shrimp on a couple of paper towels to get rid of any excess water then discard the paper towels. 

Slice the green onions lengthwise, then chop them finely. Put them in a mixing bowl with the mayonnaise, ketchup, English mustard powder, black pepper and hot sauce, if using.  Mix thoroughly. 

Add in the shrimp and stir to combine. 

Refrigerate the shrimp salad until you are ready to assemble the sandwiches. 

When you are ready to assemble the sandwiches, use a serrated knife to cut the crusts off of your slices of sandwich bread, then cut each slice in half. 

Pile the shrimp salad on one half and then cover it with the other. 

Press down gently so the shrimp salad will stick to both sides of the sandwich. 

Continue until all the sandwiches are made and transfer them to a serving plate. If you aren’t serving the sandwiches immediately, slightly dampen a paper towel by flicking it with cold water. Cover the sandwiches with the paper towel then cover the paper towel and plate with cling film. The damp paper towel will keep the bread from drying out. 

Refrigerate until ready to serve. I also sprinkled on a little chopped green onion to pretty them up. 

Enjoy! 

January is Hot Tea Month so my Foodie Extravaganza friends are sharing recipes for tea drinks, something you would serve at a tea party, or anything that uses hot tea for cooking. Many thanks to our host, Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla. Check out all the links below. 

• Asian Rice Salad with Matcha Ginger Dressing by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Black Tea Noodles by Magical Ingredients
• Chilled Masala Chai Mousse by Sneha's Recipe
• Chinese Tea Eggs by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Earl Grey Hot Toddy by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Earl Grey Tea Bread by Palatable Pastime
• Peanut Butter Sugar Cookies with Plum Preserves by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Shrimp Salad Finger Sandwiches by Food Lust People Love
• Tea Infused Creamy Oatmeal by Making Miracles

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board

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Caprese Stuffed Roasted Eggplant

Caprese Stuffed Roasted Eggplant is a showstopper of a main course, guaranteed to be loved by vegetarians and omnivores alike. After all, who can resist ripe tomatoes, flavorful basil pesto and melty mozzarella roasted in a hasselback-cut eggplant?

When our elder daughter went off to university, she fell in with a crowd of vegetarians. All really nice kids, I couldn’t help but like them. But that girl had grown up in a home that was definitely meat-centric. How could she live a baconless life! (Was a baconless life even worth living? Turns out, yes.) 

Fortunately she came home that first Christmas with a flexible attitude and a few lovely recipes to teach me. She was happy to eat whatever side dishes I made with dinner and just skip the meat portion. But that began my search for tasty vegetarian recipes we would all enjoy.

On many Sunday dinner tables around the world, including ours, the centerpiece of every meal is something roasted, perhaps beef, chicken, pork or leg of lamb. The vegetables, gravy and bread rolls that accompany the meat are supporting actors, but that big oven-roasted turkey or ham at Christmas time? Those are the superstars.

In vegetarian households some replace the meat with a nut roast or faux meat of some kind, perhaps made out of tofu or seitan. I am not a fan of those though and would rather make a lovely roasted vegetable ratatouille or eggplant Parmigiana. Or skip the showstopper all together and just make several vegetable and pasta dishes with a side salad. Hey, if you really need a centerpiece, how about some flowers?

Or you can try my wonderful Caprese Stuffed Roasted Eggplant. It’s more impressive with one big eggplant. In fact, I almost turned the words around and called it a Caprese Stuffed Eggplant Roast, but you can also use several smaller eggplants if that’s what you have available.

Caprese Stuffed Roasted Eggplant

If you do have one large eggplant, the trick is to roast it in a pan or dish that is just the right size so you can press it down to fit securely. That way, it won’t tip sideways as it bakes. My eggplant is one big guy, almost 10 inches or 25cm long. It weighed 1 lb 9 oz or 710g, before being stuffed. This will serve 3-4 people as a main course, with side dishes.

Ingredients

1 very large eggplant or 2 normal sized ones

2 large beef tomatoes, halved and sliced

4 3⁄4 oz or 135g mozzarella cheese, not soft burrata but the pizza

kind, sliced

3⁄4 cup or 190g pesto 

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

Optional for serving:

Toasted pine nuts, little basil leaves and fresh grated Parmesan

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Slice the eggplant almost all the way through, leaving the slices connected at the bottom. (The easiest way to do this is to place a chopstick or wooden spoon handle on either side of the eggplant. Cut through just until the knife hits the chopstick or spoon. The slices should be around 1/3 in or 7-­8mm thick.

You’ll have to hold the eggplant to support the uncut side, allowing the cuts to open a bit. Put a healthy teaspoon of pesto into each cut then stuff a tomato and mozzarella slice in after, which should push the pesto down into the cut and spread it around. This was awkward to photograph but here’s my best try.

Place the stuffed eggplant in a snug ovenproof baking dish greased with a little olive oil. Push it down so it almost lays flat. It will slump completely flat as it roasts.

Drizzle on a little olive oil and roast in your preheated oven for about an hour or until the eggplant is cooked through and nicely browned. If you are feeling really insecure about its stability, feel free to prop it up on both sides with some foil or even a halved tomato. 

To serve, cut through the bottom of the slices, making sure that each slice has some cheese and tomato on top as you lay them on the dinner plates.

Sprinkle with pine nuts, basil and Parmesan, if desired.

Enjoy!

For many people, eating healthier means eating meat for fewer meals and more vegetables so I figured this dish was perfect for today’s Sunday FunDay theme Welcoming 2021 – Let’s Celebrate and Stay Healthy! Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out all the other lovely dishes we are sharing. 

• Baked Plantains (Plátanos Maduros Horneados) from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking 
• Caprese Stuffed Roasted Eggplant from Food Lust People Love
• Fresh Turmeric & Chia Seed Pudding by Sneha's Recipe
• Healthy Easy Immune Boosting Smoothie from Making Miracles
• Kadha (Spiced Herbal Drink) from Cook with Renu 
• Lemony Chili Roasted Sweet Potato Hummus from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Misir Wot (Ethiopian Lentils) from Palatable Pastime 
• Roasted Chicken with Greek Salsa by A Day in the Life on the Farm

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Banana Mini Muffins #MuffinMonday

Sweet fluffy bites, perfect with a glass of cold milk or a cup of hot tea, your family will eat these banana mini muffins in a flash.

I am a fan of baking mini muffins because they tend disappear more quickly than the full-size ones. I put these on the table after dinner last night and even though everyone had eaten well, they each took a mini muffin for dessert. Yay! I tell you, that would never have happened with normal muffins.

Banana Mini Muffins

These little guys are a great recipe for using up that last banana that always languishes at the end of a bunch, brown and speckled but oh so sweet. 

Ingredients 

1 cup or 125g all-purpose flour

1/4 cup, firmly packed, or 50g light brown sugar

3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 ripe banana (about 1/2 cup or 125g)

1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil

2 tablespoons Greek yogurt

1 egg

Method

Preheat the oven to 375°F or 190°C. Prepare your 12-cup mini muffin pan by greasing it or line it with paper liners. 

Mash your banana with a fork in a mixing bowl.

Add in the oil, yogurt and egg and whisk them together with the banana.

Lightly whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in another mixing bowl to combine.

Fold the wet ingredients into flour mixture until just moistened.

Divide batter among the muffin cups. I love my little scoop for this job but if you don’t have one, a spoon will do.

Bake the muffins in your preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 12-15 minutes. Cool in the pan for a few minutes then remove the muffins from the pan and continue to cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

It's the last Monday of the month so that means it's Muffin Monday! Check out all of the great muffins my Muffin Monday friends are sharing today!

• Banana Mini Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Avocado Walnut Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Cinnamon Applesauce & Raisin Rye Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Easy Snickerdoodle Muffins from Making Miracles
• Eggnog Muffin Tops from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Pearl Millet Banana Muffins from Magical Ingredients
• Sourdough Apple Oatmeal Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen

 

 #MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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Lemon Poached Chicken and Leeks

Lemon poached chicken and leeks is a light and flavorful dish made with chicken broth, white wine and garlic. It's so easy too, in a slow cooker. Even boneless, skinless chicken breasts turn out tender and tasty.

We’ve been eating a lot more boneless, skinless chicken breast these days for various reasons, not the least of which was my primary care physician expressing concern about my high cholesterol. So I’m always on the lookout for ways to add flavor to what is often a fairly bland part of the bird.

Poaching, that is gently cooking it in liquid at a low temperature, is ideal for adding extra tastiness and simultaneously making sure that the chicken doesn’t dry out. The best kitchen tool for poaching, in my opinion, is your slow cooker. 

In a normal pot, you have to constantly monitor the temperature to make sure the broth (or whatever your poaching liquid of choice) is only simmering and equally importantly, is still covering the chicken. 

In a slow cooker, the machine does all that for you. 

Lemon Poached Chicken and Leeks

If you’d like to skip using wine, I suggest replacing it with more chicken broth measured with perhaps a tablespoon or two of white balsamic vinegar. Can’t find leeks? They can be replaced by your favorite vegetable from the allium family like onions, scallions, shallots or chives. This recipe was inspired by a slow cooker spinach and artichoke chicken one on TheKitchn.

Ingredients

2 3/4 lbs or 1240g boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Few generous grinds black pepper (I use a peppercorn mix.)

1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne

2 large leeks

2 cloves garlic

1 medium lemon

1 1/2 cup or 560ml chicken broth

1/2 cup or 120ml dry white wine

For serving:

chopped fresh parsley leaves

Method

Season the chicken breasts all over with the salt and two peppers. We like things on the spicy side so I definitely use more cayenne. 

Trim the leeks of their root ends and hard green bits and discard. Rinse them well under running water, then slice the tender green and white parts of the leeks into rounds about 1/4 in or 6mm wide. 

Smash then mince the garlic and cut the lemon into eight wedges, removing any seeds as you do. 

Place the chicken breasts in a single layer in a 6-quart or larger slow cooker. Top them with the garlic. 

Add in the leeks then pour in the chicken stock and white wine. 

Tuck the lemon wedges all around the chicken. 

Cover and cook on the LOW setting until the chicken is cooked through and registers 165°F on an instant-read thermometer, 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours.

Transfer the chicken breasts to a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut the chicken into 1/2 inch or 1cm slices.

Use a slotted spoon to transfer the leeks to a lipped serving dish, then arrange the chicken slices on top of the leeks. Tuck the lemon wedges around the chicken for color. 

Top with some of the cooking liquid and a few generous grinds of black pepper. 

Sprinkle on some chopped parsley for garnish. 

Enjoy warm, at room temperature or even cold!

It's Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing special recipes to ring in the New Year! Check them all out below. Many thanks to our host, Sneha of Sneha's Recipe!

• Cheaters Collards and Ham from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Ham and Black-Eyed Pea Soup from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Lemon Poached Chicken and Leeks from Food Lust People Love
• Malbari Style Beef Biryani With Cucumber Boondi Raita from Sneha's Recipe
• Shrimp Chip Dip from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Spicy Black-Eyed Pea Soup (Instant Pot) from Palatable Pastime

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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