All I see is Eggplant

Wait that' s not eggplant that's Eggplant Involtini. This is an old game made up out of boredom. Just keep changing the noun. We have an influx of eggplant and I made Involtini for lunch. My South Beach friends might want to tune out. But I think if you eat just one it wouldn't be much over 75 calories.

Ingredients include:

2 medium eggplant

bread crumb

soft cheese

tomato sauce

cooked ham

parmesan cheese

white sauce

basil

salt

bread crumbs

Place the sliced eggplant in a strainer with salt to drain liquid. Make tomato sauce and a white sauce. I use this recipe for white sauce.

2T butter

2T flour

1 cup milk

grated nutmeg

salt

The eggplant needs to be fried on both sides till slightly brown. Don't overcook as it needs to be soft enough to roll.

Mix the bread crumbs with the parmesean cheese and chopped basil. Add some olive oil to bind ingredients together. You all know how to make sauce that you like but check out the pan the sauce is cooking in. (This pan is over 40 years old. It was purchased from that guy on USA TV who used to bang pots and pans together. ...waterless cookwear! I was lucky to receive a set as a gift. They all look just as new as the day I got them and I use them every day.)

I use small toasted bread to make crumbs. I think they must be like Melba Toast.

The next step is to place a heaping tablespoon of the crumb mix onto each eggplant slice. Then top with some cooked ham and a cube of soft cheese. I am using swiss cheese. That doesn't sound right to be using in an Italian recipe but it gives a good taste and melts just right. Roll the eggplant and cover with more breadcrumbs before placing them into a pan that has a layer of sauce in the bottom. It will make 18 to 20 rolls. We had some extra eggplant so Andy will have a small casserole to snack on later.

Mix the white sauce with the remaining tomato sauce and pour on top of the eggplant and finish with a sprinkling of parmesean.

Bake at 375° for about 30 minutes. You will see it begin to bubble.

I baked it in my little oven. We bought this DeLonghi before we had our kitchen finished 15 years ago and it is still going strong. Nice not to heat up the whole kitchen. We gave some away and had some for lunch. It always tastes good. Now...

dishes, dishes ...all I see is dishes!