Eggplant is an awesome substitution for pasta because you can season it however you like and give your meal 10 times the flavor. It also contains a lot of naturally occurring vitamins and minerals (vitamins C, K, and B6, phosphorus, copper, thiamin, niacin, magnesium, and pantothenic acid), as opposed to the enriched nutrients in refined grain pastas. Our bodies do not process enriched nutrients as easily as we process natural nutrients so it is always better to rely on natural sources of these nutrients. If you have never tried substituting eggplant for pasta and are thinking it might not be appealing, I can assure you it is very similar to the texture of pasta when it is sliced thin and cooked. My husband was quite surprised how much he liked these even better then traditional pasta the first time I made them. These rollups are similar to manicotti as they have ricotta cheese inside them and a red sauce on top. If you like these you can experiment with eggplant in other ways such as using it as layers in lasagna. In my opinion eggplant is highly under-rated!
I did use a store bought red sauce for this recipe. Here are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a store bought pasta sauce:
- Look for one with little to no added sugars (I have found a sauce with no added sugars)
- If you see soybean oil in it, put it down and don’t purchase that brand again!
- Check the sodium content…. companies are notorious for putting massive amounts of unnecessary salt in their tomato sauces. The one I used had around 300 mg per 1/2 cup which is in the middle of the spectrum. I have seen some sauces have as much as 700 mg per 1/2 cup! Yikes!
Fun Fact: Eggplant is actually a FRUIT!
