Last Updated on July 14, 2025 by Deliciously Organic
Eggplant Involtini. Don’t be intimidated by the name. It’s a fancy title for eggplant rolled around gooey cheese and baked.
We’re over halfway through the challenge! How are you doing? Are you finding it gets easier as you go? I feel so good that I don’t know if I want to eat grain after the challenge is over. The kids have adapted nicely and honestly I don’t even think they’ve noticed I haven’t been serving grain. I do miss the occasional corn chip and salsa, but I figure I can enjoy that in moderation soon.
I’ve found that I like food as it should be and I don’t want to pretend that something is something it’s not. For instance, I’m not going to use spaghetti squash and tell everyone it’s pasta. It’s not. It’s spaghetti squash.
The other night, I was craving pizza. Instead of pizza I roasted a large portabello mushroom until most of the juices came out, topped it with marinara, covered it with shredded cheese and baked it until bubbly. I thought about writing up the recipe for a mock version of pizza. Then I remembered, it was a mushroom. Not pizza. I’m saying all this in jest. I know there are hundreds of recipes out there for mock versions of the original, but I figure I’m going to say it like it is and not pretend we’re eating grains right now.
Here are a few tips for you as we continue our grain-free journey together:
1. Stock up on produce.
2. Plan your meals and especially your snacks.
3. Make chicken stock. Soups will fill you up and keep you out of the cookie jar.
4. Buy lots of eggs. Frittatas, omelettes, scrambled, poached. So many possibilities!
5. If you need something sweet a square of good semisweet chocolate is an easy grain-free option.
6. I’ve said it before, but my favorite resource for vegetable recipes is Perfect Vegetables. There are hundreds of ideas for new ways to cook vegetables.
Cook’s Illustrated recommends salting your eggplant before cooking to draw out the bitterness and I always take their advice. So I salted the eggplant, roasted it and then rolled it in a mixture of cheese. If you’re so inclined, I encourage you to make your own ricotta cheese. It’s very simple, costs just as much as a good ricotta in the store and the best part is it doesn’t contain any preservatives or additives. You can even make it a day or two ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until ready to use.
This looks absolutely delicious! Who needs grains when you have melty cheese?! 😉
Exactly!
That’s what I was thinking too! Cheese vs. pasta??? Clearly Cheese!
Thanks for all the inspiration Carrie – glad to hear you are so energized on this special diet – I’m in need of the same.
You’re welcome! I wish we lived a bit closer. I’d have you over for some grain-free meals. 🙂
Carrie- I bet you don’t even miss the grain with all of these delicious recipes you have been whipping up. Beautiful!
It’s awsome how you are doing without grain. Love this involitin, they look really yummy!
YUM! Once again you have outdone yourself. I can’t wait to try this one. Yesterday I made a huge pot of my “famous” Chicken Tortilla Soup (minus the tortillas), topped it with avocada, sour cream and cheese and it was still just as good. I munched some more for luch today, very filling.
:o) I’m not missing the grains at all. My husband hasn’t even noticed yet.
This looks fantastic. I am not sure I can go grain-free. As a runner, I metabolize so quickly and rely on unrefined carbs, such as whole wheat that I may be hungry 60 minutes after I eat two of the eggplant roll-ups. What could I pair with it?
Oh, Carrie. My heart has stopped. Looking at this…just…kaput – STOPPED.
I might have a crush.
This looks so good. And it’s really, really fun to say involtini, so I’m totally going to make this dish. Regardless of whether or not I’m eliminating grains from my diet. Thanks for the recipe!
Oh I am so making this!!! Will you PLEASE do a grain-free cookbook??!!! 🙂
That’s quite the compliment. Thank you! I’m toying with the idea of a grain-free e-book. We’ll see. . .
Those look so yummy! Thanks for the idea.
Love this! It sounds super yummy 🙂
I agree 100% with not passing off food as something it isn’t. If it’s not grains, it’s NOT GRAINS! Enjoy it for what it IS. I have been mostly grain free for the past few years, but I joined a gym and their signature diet had me eating them every day. I started having serious stomach problems, which they swore was not the diet. They favored artificial sweeteners (BIG red flag!), absolutely NO sodium, everything was “artificial” something or other. That’s called “making the food behave.” They couldn’t understand why a small serving of a whole food was more satisfying to me than a plateful of chemicals. I lasted about two weeks on it.
I’m so sorry to hear about your experience. I’m glad you figured out it was the diet they prescribed! A diet of whole foods really seems to work best. Doesn’t it? 🙂
Carrie,
This looks like another wonderful recipe. I made your meatball recipe you posted a few day ago. I was a hit! It will be added to our collection to have on a regular basis. I served it with a salad and had homemade whole wheat bread for those in the family that think they can’t go without it.
I don’t know if I’ll stay completely grain free, but I will try to be mindful of how much I am consuming. Dinners seem to be easy for me to go grain free, but breakfast and lunch are much harder. I would love some simple options for those meals! Thanks so much for all your work. I have your cookbook and it is wonderful! (especially the chocolate chip cookies : )
I’m so glad you enjoyed the meatballs and marinara. Thanks for the feedback! I will be posting another post about breakfast later in the week and can also talk about lunches too.
wow…I love food with melty cheese…and this one looks awesome!!!!!
Involtini… sounds like a cocktail!!! But whatever you call them, these little eggplant roll ups sound delicious!!!
Your blog is absolutely beautiful! I am especially interested in your grain-free challenge. I have been feeling sluggish lately (and can’t seem to lose weight), so I think going grain-free might help. Thanks for all the tips. And I was wondering, what kind of camera do use to take all these gorgeous photos?
I’m so glad you found me too! Going grain-free this month has definitely given me more energy (and the weight loss has been super nice!). After you get the hang of it, it’s not as hard as it sounds. I hope you’ll give it a try! I use a Canon Rebel xti. I usually use the 50mm 1.4 lens with lots of good light! 🙂
I am not a huge fan of eggplant but this recipe would certainly change my mind. Beautiful Carrie 🙂
Oh my, you made me hungry. I LOVE eggplant and this recipe is a perfect excuse for me to eat it again!!! Beautiful pictures!
Wow, the sauce alone looks so drinkable. I love that you’re featuring eggplant, it seems to be forgotten lately, but it’s so good when done right.
This is a gorgeous dish; I love the thinner slices of eggplant.
Just an fyi…I develop a lot of Thesis sites; do you know that you can have your menu css modified just a bit and get your contact tab back on the same line as the others? Sorry…could not help myself!
Thanks for the tip, but I’m confused as to what you mean? Can you elaborate? Thanks. 🙂
I made this Sunday night and finished the last of the leftovers at lunch today. Normally, eating the same thing for lunch 4 days in a row is less than appealing but this was a pleasure! Thanks for the rx!
I made this a few weeks ago, and oh my gosh it was amazing! I mentioned the recipe and your website on my blog, Thanks for the amazing recipes!!
Love this recipe :)! Will definately try it soon!
This looks divine, I’m definitely going to try this!
I made this last night and my husband and I LOVED it! He’s not even typically a fan of eggplant or ricotta but I had a feeling this would win him over. It was delicious and very satisfying – we didn’t miss the breadcrumbs at all (in comparing this to eggplant parm). I added some garlic, pepper and dried herbs to the cheese mixture for some extra punch.
Question for you — how do you get nice even slices with your eggplant? I used our mandolin but even with the thickest setting the slices were a little too thin and browned too much in the roasting stage. If I can’t cut them thicker next time I’ll probably just decrease the oven temp and cooking time slightly, no biggie.
I’m glad you enjoyed the dish! 🙂 To slice the eggplant I use a very sharp 8″ chefs knife and cut them slowly to make sure they are evenly sliced.
We just tried this in our home and it was amazing, thank you!!!
This is an oldie that popped up on my pinterest, but it looks very good. I will use almond cheese instead though. I agree…it does not work for me to pretend veggies are something else. Zoodles are fine, but they are not pasta. I could add that I am also weary of everyone repeatedly saying ‘ eat a little dark chocolate’ for cravings. I don’t really love chocolate. It’s not the answer for many of us. I know. How can someone not want chocolate! Sacrilege! Well my hubby is with you on that at least.