Serving icon

Serves 6 people

Time icon

Prep: 1 hour

Cooking time icon

Cook: 1 hour 30 minutes

Total time icon

Total: 2 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

Pasta dough:

  • 3 eggs
  • 300g flour, plus extra
  • Sea salt

Tomato sauce:

  • 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • Pinch of dried chilli flakes
  • 700g tomato passata
  • Handful of basil leaves
  • Sea salt & black pepper

Eggplant and mozzarella filling:

  • 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 large eggplant
  • Sea salt
  • 3 x 125g Giorgio's Artisan Cheese Buffalo Mozzarella, diced, plus extra to top
  • 4 tbsp pecorino, grated, plus extra to top
  • Handful of basil leaves, plus extra to serve
Eggplant Cannelloni

Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Step 2

To make the dough, tip the flour onto a clean work surface and scatter over a pinch of salt. Make a well in the centre and crack in the eggs. Gently whisk the eggs with a fork and slowly bring the flour into the egg and mix to incorporate in a circular motion. When you can no longer use the fork, use your hands to bring it all together. Knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover with an upturned bowl or plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

Step 3

Meanwhile, arrange the eggplant on a roasting tray and drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt. Roast in the preheated over for 35-40 minutes or until very soft. Allow to cool.

Step 4

For the sauce, warm the olive oil in a medium saucepan over a low-medium heat. Add the garlic and chilli and cook for a minute or two until fragrant and the garlic begins to soften. Pour in the passata along with a little water to thin, add the basil and season. Simmer gently for 15-20 minutes or until slightly thickened. Season to taste and set aside.

Step 5

Divide the pasta dough into four pieces. Cover three of the pieces and set aside. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out using a rolling pin into a rough disc shape around 3mm thick. Roll the dough through a pasta machine set to the widest setting, then roll again through the narrower settings, dusting with a little flour between each roll if needed, until the pasta sheet is about 30cm long. Fold the dough back in on itself so it's slightly narrower than the width of the machine and use a rolling pin to flatten slightly Set the machine back to the widest setting and roll back through the first settings again, folding and flattening the pasta dough before each roll. Repeat this process two more times, so you've rolled the dough through the widest settings, folding between each roll, three times in total. This makes the pasta nice and strong, and you can now roll the dough through the settings until the pasta is around 1.5mm thick. Cut into rectangles around 15 x 10 cm.

Step 6

Blanch the pasta in a pot of salted boiling water for 2 minutes then drain on clean tea towels in single layers.

Step 7

To assemble, spread a thin layer of the sauce into a large rectangle baking dish. Working with one piece of pasta at a time, place one tablespoon of the eggplant, a few pieces of the buffalo mozzarella, a sprinkle of pecorino and some basil leaves along the long edge of the pasta. Roll up the pasta to form the cannelloni. Place into the baking tray and repeat with the remaining pasta and filling. Cover with the remaining sauce, top with some extra pecorino and mozzarella and bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and cheese melted. Scatter some fresh basil leaves and serve.

Step 8

Step 9

Notes