Stuffed Rolled Eggplant Parm

Preheat oven to 400 F.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, add the sweet Italian sausage (already removed from casing). Crumble sausage in skillet and add the olive oil. Cook sausage until browned then drain off the grease and set sausage aside.

Peel outer skin off of the eggplants. Slice down the entire length of each eggplant, into 1/4″ strips.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add all of the eggplant slices to the boiling salted water and cook for 3 minutes. Then drain off the water and lay eggplant strips flat on a work surface.

In a medium size mixing bowl add cooked sweet Italian sausage, salt, pepper, basil, oregano and parsley and stir well.

In a medium size pot add tomato sauce and heat on low simmer.

Spoon the sweet Italian sausage mixture onto each slice of eggplant; a thin layer spread across entire eggplant slice works nicely. Roll up eggplant slices and place in a baking dish, seam side down (this will take a few minutes to do). Should the eggplant slices not secure seam side down you can, after rolling eggplant slices, secure them closed with a toothpick (soak toothpick in water first) then add rolled stuffed eggplant to baking dish toothpick side up for easy removal after baking. Add the simmered tomato sauce to cover the rolled eggplant and add mozzarella cheese across the top.

Bake at 400 F (uncovered) for 30 minutes. Serve with penne pasta, or a nice green salad! Enjoy!

Note: I am allergic to garlic and do not use it in recipes, feel free to add if you choose. If so, just cook a clove of minced garlic for the last minute of cook time with the sausage.