Monday, April 27, 2015

Rose Shaped Eggplant Parmigiana

Let's give a new shape to the traditional Italian eggplant Parmesan!
This rose shaped appetizer is made with thin slices of eggplant rolled in buttery pastry crust, 
filled with melted mozzarella cheese and garlicky tomato sauce,
a sprinkle of oregano flakes and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Finally, here it is! I know many of you have been waiting for this. A savory variation of my so-talked-about rose shaped apple dessert!!
After the rave reviews and the many requests, I finally came up with something deliciously savory, vegetarian and quite healthy. And (of course!) pretty and elegant, shaped like a rose. Something  you will want to try as soon as you see how easy it is to prepare. This is going to be a sure hit at your next party.
This recipe is just as easy as the apple roses', but made with scrumptiously savory Mediterranean ingredients. All you have to do is spread tomato sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese on strips of puff pastry. Place the eggplant slices on the strips, sprinkle with oregano flakes and garlic infused olive oil. Roll up the roses and bake. It's so much fun looking at these roses come alive right under your eyes!
When ready, you might thinks that these eggplant Parmesan roses are too pretty to be eaten. Well... think again! When the amazing aroma coming from your oven hits your nostrils, you will not be able to resist.
So, ready for this recipe?!? Hold on tight, and start taking notes so you can head right to the store and get what you need. My only suggestion: make sure you bake enough for everybody!
Buon appetito!



Ingredients to make 6 roses:                                 Printable Recipe
  • 1 medium eggplant (about 12 oz, 340 gr)
  • 1 frozen puff pastry sheet, thawed
  • 1 cup of crushed tomatoes (I like San Marzano)
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
  • a couple of leaves of fresh basil
  • 6 tablespoons of shredded mozzarella
  • oregano flakes
  • garlic infused olive oil (optional)
  • freshly grated Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top
  • salt
Preparation time: 20 minutes to prepare, plus 45 minutes to bake
Directions:
1. Thaw the puff pastry if you haven't done so. It should be outside the freezer for 20-30 minutes.
Prepare the tomato sauce: in a small pan, saute' for one minute the crushed garlic clove with one tablespoon of olive oil. Add the crushed tomatoes and salt to taste. Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes. Add the basil leaves after about five minutes. Turn off the heat when ready.

2. Peel the eggplant and slice as this as you can. Cut the slices in half. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with garlic infused olive oil, if you have it, or regular extra virgin olive oil.

3. Unwrap the puff pastry (9 in x 9 in) over a clean and lightly floured counter.  Using a rolling pin stretch the dough a little, in one direction, trying to keep it in a rectangular shape. Cut the dough in 6 strips, about 2 in x 9 in (5 cm x 22 cm).

4. Preheat the oven to 350° F (175° C). Spread about one tablespoon of tomato sauce on each strip.

5. Sprinkle each strip with about one tablespoon of shredded mozzarella .

6. Place the eggplant slices as shown in the picture.

7. Sprinkle with oregano.

8. Fold up the bottom of the dough.

9. Carefully roll, seal the edge and place in a silicone muffin cup. No greasing is needed for silicone muffin mold. Make sure to spray regular muffin tin.

10. Do the same steps for the other 5 strips. Bake for about 40-45 minutes,on the lower rack. Check after the first 30 minutes. If the top of the eggplant slices are starting to burn, cover with aluminum foil for the remaining of the time.

Note: Before removing from the oven, make sure the pastry is fully cooked on the inside.
11. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.
Buon appetito!









38 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. These seem like they would taste wonderful with bacon, so when I make them, I'll par-fry a few strips of bacon and lay them onto the pastry before the cheese. Also, someone asked about potatoes. I think they would work, but would need to be par-cooked like the apples so that they didn't break when being rolled. If the peel was left on they'd be really pretty. Mmm... so many ideas!

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  2. Thank you for another wonderful looking recipe, Manuela--I can't wait to try it! When I do, I'll send you a photo- XX Natalie

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    1. YES!! Please do! Thank you so much Natalie :)

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  3. Ma sono fantastiche queste ricette!!!!!Buonissime le dolci,proverò sicuramente anche queste!!!!Grazie e un caro saluto..Patry

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    1. Grazie mille Patry!!! Fammi sapere se le provi :)

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  4. Could this be frozen, before or after baking?

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    1. For sure you don't really want to freeze it before baking (given the thawed pastry) unless you make your own puff pastry. After baking is possible, but the puff pastry might lose some of its crispness!
      Thanks!!

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  5. Ciao Manuela, stamani mattina ho trovato su pinterest le tue Apple rose e oggi pomeriggio non ho resistito alla tentazione di provarle subito. I miei figli ( e io!) le abbiamo spolverate in un attimo, buonissime e bellissime per una cena con gli amici. provero' anche quelle con le melanzane, un abbraccio dall' Italia, Barbara.

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  6. Ciao Barbara!! Grazie mille!! Spediscimi le foto delle tue rose se vuoi! Un abbraccio :)

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  7. Ciao Manuela, grazie mille per le tue ricette bellissime e buonissime!!! Ho sostituito le melanzane con le zucchine. Il risultato e' ottimo. Ti mandero' le foto. Un saluto dalla Croazia! Irena

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    1. Grazie Irena!! Ho ricevuto le foto. Bravissima!!
      Sei in Croazia, dove? Io ho passato tutte le estati dei miei primi vent'anni a Mali Losinj... bellissimo!! :)

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  8. That sounds lovely too! I just saw your tarts on Lorraine's blog, I am so happy for your success! You deserve it, itis a beautiful dessert. Complimenti!

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    1. Ciao!!! Grazie mille carissima!! Now let's see where this takes me ... If anywhere?!? Haha. Un abbraccio :)

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  9. Hola Manuela, he conocido tu blog a través de tus rosas de manzana. Yo las hice y las tengo publicadas en mi blog.
    Te dejo el enlace por si quieres verlas.
    http://picaskitchen.blogspot.com.es/2015/04/el-otro-dia-fue-san-jorge-y-como-tantas.html

    Me han encantado estas rosas también, las haré!! son fabulosas!!

    abrazos!

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    Replies
    1. muchas gracias por compartir mi receta en su blog. Yo miré y sus rosas lucir bella. gracias

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  10. Thank you for once again inspiring me with your recipe Manuela! This is great and I adapted it with ingredients I had on hand, minimizing food wastage should you wish to see!
    http://bit.ly/1IR9ULr

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  11. These looks delicious but my husband hates eggplant :( ... Do you think it would work with potato?

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    1. Thank you!! I haven't tried with potatoes... And I guess it could work with you can slice them really thin and are able to roll them with out them breaking.
      I have tried zucchini thou. It works!!

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  12. Superbe et délicieux !!! Merci...

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  13. Wow Manuela!! This is great!! I love the apple recipe as well!!! I can't wait to surprise my boyfriend (who's Italian and loves eggplant!) for our 1-year anniversary coming up soon! I'll send you photos afterwards ~Ciao xoxo

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  14. Could you leave the peel on? The colour might be a nice contrast like with the apple roses.

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    Replies
    1. Hi! Yes, you could ... I left it on for my first few batches of these roses for the same reason!
      At the end I found it harder to slice the eggplant thin enough with the peel on ... but maybe you can!!
      Let me know what you think!!

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    2. If you cut the eggplant in half before slicing, it's pretty easy to slice just as thin with the peel as without!

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  15. Pleas Manuela, put one button translation for french for the french peaple...thank you so mutch

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    Replies
    1. Hi Renee! I just added a "google translate" button on my site. It's on a column on the right. Please note, the translation is done automatically by google. So probably not always correct.
      I hope this helps :)

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  16. I love this idea! I plan on trying them and the apples very soon. I'm also thinking potatoe slices (red skin w/skin left on and par-boiled first) spread with sour cream and chive mix, add shredded cheddar and crumbled bacon...to act as a "loaded potatoe" appetizer. My mouth is watering just thinking about it lol. Thanks so much, this is such a great technique!

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    1. Mmmmmm....my mouth is watering too now! And it's only 7:30 am and just had my coffe! Haha
      Thank you Rachel!! Please share pictures if you try any of these xo

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  17. Dear Manuela, my friend and I tried the apple roses today. They are fun, sooooo easy and quick to prepare and they look and taste fantastic. We backed them in muffin paper cups. We used black currant jam, but I will experiment with blackberry and vanilla, or my homemade rosehyp-ginger jam.
    The savory roses look good as well, I imagine potatoes, rosemary and crumbled bluecheese! Lots of new ideas, thank you!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you!!! Sounds delicious! I love this recipe because you can change it up in so many ways :)

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  18. I loved your apple roses, I made mine with Black Cherry, Blood orange and raspberry jam, they were fabulous. So now I'm planning to make eggplant ones. I'm planning another day to do a salmon and dill version and a chicken tikka or curry version. My spouse has suggested making caramel apple roses next time or even candied lemon and ginger pastries, but I'm not so sure about that. What I love about this recipe is once you have the basics, your imagination is the limit for styles and flavors.

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  19. The flavors are delicious but......the inside pastry is gooey and uncooked after 45 minutes. So, I cooked a few of them for another 1/2 hour. Still uncooked in the center. Any suggestions? I love the look of these and have made them twice, but don't love uncooked puff pastry dough. Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. Oh no!! Sorry... uncooked dough is not good! Puff pastry, rolled up can be tricky to bake sometimes. The moist of the sauce or eggplants might keep the dough wet, so that it doesn't puff as well as the outer part - and looks gooey, even if it might be cooked. One suggestion would be to use less tomato sauce (or make it denser), or roll the pastry thinner, so it cooks more quickly. Or you could also cover the pan for the last 15-20 minutes, and cook for longer. I would not cover from the beginning or more moist is trapped inside. I hope this helps :)

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