Looking for a tasty gluten-free and vegan recipe to whip up this week? Make this delicious Eggplant Rollatini. Stuffed with a dairy-free homemade ricotta filling and topped with marinara sauce, vegan mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil. Not only are these roll ups fun to make but will be your new favorite dish to make this summer.
For this Vegan Eggplant Rollatini I used jarred marinara pasta sauce that I bought from my local grocery store. However, homemade pasta would taste wonderful as well. I would just recommend making the pasta sauce earlier in the day, otherwise it will add about 35 minutes to your cooking time.
Have you ever made your own vegan ricotta cheese? It is super easy and can be made in approximately five minutes. The first thing you are going to do is combine tofu, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, dried basil, dried thyme, dried oregano, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, salt, pepper and fresh spinach together in a high powered blender or food processor. Don’t worry about pressing the tofu. Since we are making a soft vegan cheese a little moisture from the tofu is actually good!
Pulse the mixture a couple times until it has become smooth and creamy. Just make sure to pulse and not blend. Since the tofu is soft you wont need to leave the blender on for a long period of time.
Not only is this ricotta super tasty but is vegan and gluten free!
The very first thing you will want to do is cut your eggplant lengthwise into 1 / 8 inch slices. I decided to leave the eggplant skin on my eggplant. However, if you do not like the texture of eggplant skin you peel it prior to cutting into lengthwise slices.
After you have cut your eggplant place the slices of eggplant on a large baking pan, sprinkle with salt, and toss. Let the eggplant set for 30 minutes allowing the eggplant to release moisture.
Before rolling your eggplant with the ricotta cheese you will want to roast your eggplant for 12-15 minutes. Before placing it in the oven brush it with oil. For the oil I used avocado oil. You can also fry your eggplant but I wanted this dish to be on the healthier side so I decided to bake it.
TIPS WHEN ROLLING YOUR EGGPLANT
- Before you start rolling your eggplant add your pasta sauce to the bottom of your baking dish. This will make it easy for you to transfer the rolled eggplant directly to the dish.
- Don’t over stuff your eggplant with the vegan ricotta cheese. It will make it more difficult when trying to roll it. For my eggplant I used 1-2 Tbsp of ricotta cheese. The amount of cheese will depend on how big your slices of eggplant are.
- If your rolls up are unraveling at all you can add the ricotta on the seam so it sticks better.
- After rolling your eggplant set them down with the seam-side facing down in your baking dish.
- Both prepared eggplants will fit in one large baking dish. If you do not have a large baking dish two medium dishes will work as well.
I topped my Eggplant Rollatini with mozzarella cheese, fresh chopped basil, and crushed red pepper. I like to add my mozzarella cheese on top of my eggplant before I place it in the oven so the cheese will melt.
These Vegan Eggplant Rollatini are:
Creamy
Homemade
Deliciously Cheesy
Fun to Assemble
Gluten-free
If you make these Vegan Eggplant Rollatini I would love it if you would snap a photo of your food and share it with me on instagram @itsallgoodvegan.com. I can’t wait to see how you like it!
Vegan Eggplant Rollatini
Stuffed with a dairy-free homemade ricotta filling and topped with manerana sauce, vegan mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil. Not only are these roll ups fun to make but will be your new favorite dish to make this summer.
Vegan Ricotta
- 14 ounce container tofu, drained and patted dry
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- â…“ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp garlic powder, substitute for chopped garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper
Eggplant Rollatini
- 2 large eggplants
- 2 tsp salt
- 2-3 Tbsp of oil, I used avocado oil
- 4 cups marinara sauce, I used it from a jar
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, cut finely (optional)
- 1 cup vegan mozzarella cheese, gluten-free (optional)
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
Directions
- Cut your eggplant lengthwise into 1 / 8 inch slices. Place eggplant on a large baking pan, sprinkle with salt, and toss. Let the eggplant set for 30 minutes allowing it to release its moisture.
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit (218 C).
- In a food processor or high powered blender combine the tofu, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, dried basil, dried thyme, dried oregano, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, salt, pepper and fresh spinach together. Pulse the tofu mixture a couple times until it has become smooth and creamy like ricotta cheese.
- Dab all the extra water off your eggplant. Place your cut eggplant evenly on a baking pan, I used two large baking pans. Drizzle or brush oil on your eggplant and bake for 12 minutes.
- Take out your eggplant out of the oven. Lower your oven heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (176 C). Transfer ½ cup of marinara sauce in the bottom of your baking pan.
- Lay the cooked eggplant on a clean surface and place 1-2 Tbsp of the tofu mixture in the middle spreading it evenly. Roll up each eggplant and place the seam-side down.
- Arrange the rolled eggplant facing down with the seam-side down. Spoon the remaining marinara sauce over the top of the eggplant rollatini and sprinkle with vegan mozzarella cheese.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Top with fresh basil, crushed red pepper, and enjoy!
Make it Your Own
- What to add some extra veggies? Add 2 cups of fresh spinach in your vegan ricotta cheese. Add the spinach to the blender with all of the rest of the ingredients.
- Like it spicy? Add additional crushed red pepper to your vegan ricotta cheese.
- If you are adding vegan mozzarella cheese to the top of your shells add it before baking so the cheese melts.
I’ve been trying to find a good recipe using eggplant and this one looks great!
I love this, but how or where I can get vegan mozzarella cheese. I didn’t even know about it.
HI Johanny! I like to use the brands Follow your Heart and Violife. You can get them both from Whole Foods. Or I also really enjoy Trader Joes brand as well and it is reasonably priced. I hope you enjoy them!
I made them twice this weekend because it’s crazy simple and easy to make! I didn’t have the crushed red pepper or fresh basil and the dish still tasted delicious. Every ingredients you listed here was easy to find at my local big grocery store. Thank you so much! 😊
Hi! I am so happy that you like it! Thank you so much for sharing.