Aubergine and Herbed Ricotta Rolls with Fresh Tomato Sauce

Such a wonderful summer dish! Grilled aubergines filled with herbs and fresh ricotta, rolled and baked in a wonderful homemade tomato and red pepper sauce.

What a treat as the peppers and aubergines are from my own small urban vegetable patch! So chuffed!

Skinning tomatoes for a fresh tomato sauce can be a pain so I love the fact that this tomato sauce requires you to literally just throw summers bounty into a pot before blitzing the ingredients into a rich sauce. The sauce relies on overripe and full of flavour summer tomatoes though, but fear not you can create something equally delicious in the colder months with this 15-minute tomato sauce.

You can make this dish vegan by using a good vegan ricotta like this one from Ammas Creamery.

The sauce is so versatile so double up and freeze a jar or two.

Getting Ahead: The dish can be made 2 days ahead, ready to be baked. The dish makes lovely leftovers.

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a starter (see below to make it into a main)

Beautiful dish which can be served with some crusty bread and a simple salad but equally some freshly cooked penne pasta on the side would be great too.

• 3 large and long aubergines, thickly sliced
• olive oil, salt & pepper
• 1 tub fresh ricotta, the firm kind
• zest of lemon & 1 teaspoon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 handfuls of fresh herbs, I used basil and flat leaf parsley, chopped
• shaved parmesan to serve
• salt & pepper

Fresh Tomato Sauce

• 1,3kg wonderfully ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 3 red peppers, deseeded, roughly chopped
• 3 fat garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup water
• 2 handfuls basil leaves

1. Preheat the oven to 180c. Line a baking tray with baking paper, add the aubergines in a single file and drizzle really well with olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes turning once until golden and soft. Adding more oil if the aubergines seems dry. Remove to cool
2. Meanwhile for the tomato sauce, add all the ingredients except the basil to a saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and let the mixture bubble away until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 20 minutes. Remove the lid, turn up the heat and let the tomato sauce bubble for another 5 minutes, stirring continuously. Remove from the heat, add the basil and stir through. Once cooled slightly, add the sauce to a food processor and blitz until smooth. Season with salt & pepper.
3. In a bowl or food processor mix the ricotta with the herbs, lemon zest, juice and salt until smooth. Season with salt & pepper and more lemon juice as needed.
4. To assemble the dish, add the tomato sauce to an ovenproof dish. Add a teaspoon ricotta mixture on the wider end of the aubergine slices and roll up gently, if a slice burst in the middle once rolled, don’t worry about it. Place rolled pieces sealed side down in the tomato sauce. Once all the pieces are rolled, drizzle with olive oil and pop the dish in oven and bake for 20 minutes until bubbly.
5. To serve, add a few basil leaves as a garnish, a twist of pepper and shaved parmesan over the top. Such a stunning dish – ENJOY!