I was thinking of another way to make something like a moussaka. I do really like the tomato-cheese-eggplant combo so I researched a couple of ways on Pinterest. The one thing I do like about this dish is that it’s easier to serve since you just have to pick up a roll of eggplant with some marinara sauce. This dish is a great side dish that serves 4 persons. You could eat it with some bread or simply on its own. 

The tomato sauce is more Italian marinara than the Turkish marinara sauce. Without the cinnamon and allspice, you could really taste the tanginess of the ricotta cheese and feta cheese. The original recipe included parmesan but I succumbed to only using mozzarella. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself with too many varying flavors. 

Ingredients 

• 2 medium-sized Eggplants
• Salt
• Olive oil (optional)
• 1-2 cups / 480ml Marinara sauce 

Cheese filling 

• 1 ½ cups / 369g / 8 oz Ricotta Cheese
• ½ cup / 75g / 2.5 oz Crumbled Feta
• 1 cup / 113g Shredded Mozzarella
•  2 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 Egg, beaten
• ½ tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Pepper

1. Preheat your oven to 200°C. 
2. Line a baking tray with some parchment paper/baking paper. 
3. Slice the eggplants lengthwise with ¼ inch thickness per slice.
4. Lay and arrange the slices of eggplants on a baking tray. Sprinkle salt on both sides of the eggplant and allow it to rest for 10 minutes. 
5. After 10 minutes, use a paper towel to pat it dry. This is important because you’ll be removing the bitterness of the eggplant. 
6. Place them in the oven for 5-8 minutes per side and allow it to become tender. You can brush them with olive oil before inserting it into the oven. Keep an eye on your eggplants if you brush with olive oil because you don’t want them to be crisp and difficult to roll later.

7. Spread ¼ -½ cup of marinara sauce on the base of a greased baking dish. 
8. In a bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, feta, mozzarella, garlic, egg, salt, and pepper. Be sure to mix them well!

9. Once your eggplants are done and slightly cooled, you’re ready to roll them. 

There are 2 ways to do this. I placed my cheese filling on one end of the sliced eggplant and rolled it up. You could also spread the cheese filling on each sliced eggplant and roll it up. The second method will give you an even layer of cheese in each roll whereas mine gives you a blob of cheese. To each its own!

10. Once you’ve rolled them, arrange them with the seams side down on your baking dish with marinara sauce.
11. Use your remaining marinara sauce to cover your eggplant-cheese rolls. 
12. Sprinkle some cheese on the top and cover with aluminum foil. Bake it for 30 minutes before removing the foil and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes. Keep an eye on it because you don’t want it to burn the cheese on top. Once cooled, you’re ready to serve!