Eggplant rolls with walnuts

Walnut-stuffed eggplant rolls are a very delicious appetizer. I don’t know anyone who can stand it! The recipe is easy to cook but takes some time. If you have never tried eggplant rolls with walnuts, I highly recommend cooking them – I bet you will cook (and enjoy) them over and over again.

Ingredients:

• 500 g of eggplants (of length more than 20 cm)
• 2 tsp of salt
• Flavorless oil

Walnut filling:

• 100 g of walnuts without shell
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 3-4 tbsp of mayonnaise* (~75 g)
• 5-10 g of cilantro leaves (you can use dill instead)
• A pinch of ground coriander seeds
• 0,25 tsp khmeli-suneli spice mix (optional)

* – Note that mayonnaise in Russia and f.e. in Thailand tastes different. Russian mayonnaise is not sweet – you need this kind. Also there’s a variation of recipe when mayonnaise can be replaced with yogurt (Greek or Turkish). But if you use yogurt, you may need smaller quantity.

Equipment needed:

• Coffee/spice grinder or blender with special shaft to mince walnuts

Instructions

1. Cut eggplants lengthwise, slices should be 0,7-1 cm thick. Rub them with salt and leave for 20 min. This time we’ll use for cooking the filling.

2. Mince cilantro (or dill) with a knife, mince walnuts in coffee grinder, use press for garlic – put everything to a bowl and add spices & mayonnaise. Mix everything together. Consistence of filling shouldn’t be liquid – it’s a kind of paste that can be shaped. Cover walnut paste and put it in a fridge.

3. Wash eggplants in order to get rid of excess salt, squeeze them a little. Now you have 2 options – to fry eggplant slices or to bake. Anyway I highly recommend covering eggplants with a thin layer of oil prior to cooking. You may use silicone brush or just pour some oil in a plate and dip eggplant slice with one side then with the second. This way you will reduce amount of oil, when you’re frying eggplants – because they tend to absorb oil as if they were a sponge.

If you bake eggplants – preheat the oven, 180°C. I use convection mode. Cover baking sheet with parchment paper and put slices on it.

4. Put eggplants in the oven and bake 20 min.

5. Eggplants need another 10 min. Usually I switch oven to 200°C temperature and choose convection+grill mode in order to achieve brown color on the top of slices. But one should be careful: if eggplant slices are too thin, they will become to dry. It means that you won’t be able to roll them. Slices will be breaking when folded.

6. Take eggplants out of the oven and leave them to cool down.

7. When eggplants became cold, put 1-2 tsp of walnut filling on each slice and roll it. The amount of filling depends on eggplants. Today my eggplants are small and narrow, so I’m using only 1 tsp for each roll.

Eggplant rolls with walnuts should be served cold. They could be stored for 3 days in a fridge, but they are too tasty, so I don’t think you’ll have a chance to prove it. 😉