Grilled Eggplant Rollatini

I've been given several eggplants lately and have been making various dishes using them. I had an Eggplant Rollatini that I used to make that had ham rolled with the mozzarella, after looking at a few blogs I decided on this. You can serve this individually as an appetizer or serve over pasta for a full meal.

I forgot to take a pic of it plated up with some pasta! Duh!

• 1 large eggplant
• kosher salt
• cooking spray* (I have a bottle that I fill with canola oil)
• about 1/3 pound vegan mozzarella cheese, cut into fingers that fit your eggplant
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 14.5 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
• salt, to taste
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup grated vegan Parm Cheese

Slice the eggplant thinly, preferrably using a mandoline, to about 1/4″ thickness. Sprinkle both sides of each slice with salt, and place on a baking sheet, layering between paper towels. Set aside for at least an hour.
Preheat a griddle to medium-low heat. Rinse the eggplant slices and pat dry, then spray each with cooking spray. Grill the eggplant slices for a few minutes on each side, until lightly browned.

Set aside. Slice cheese into fingers. Place a finger of cheese onto a slice of eggplant and roll up, starting with the wider end.

Place in a lightly oiled baking dish.

Repeat until remaining cheese and grilled eggplant slices are used up.

To make the sauce, begin by heating the olive oil over medium heat in a saute pan. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper to the saute pan, and cook for one minute. Add the tomatoes and salt, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the basil and cheese.

Spread the sauce over the eggplant rollatini.

Preheat the oven to 425ºF, and bake for 10-15 minutes, until heated through. Serve immediately or at room temperature. Enjoy!