Eggplant & Bressaola Rolls in a Mason Jar

Today is my birthday, and I am as well celebrating 6 months of blogging (yay!). Being born on January the 3rd, I am used to getting birthday presents along with Christmas presents, in December. For fun, today, I have made a present to myself by jarring up one of my favorite entrees, Italian-style. It’s my Eggplant and Bressaola “in a box”! You surely have seen the original recipe on my blog a few weeks ago, however I must notify that it varies a little when it goes to be preserved in a mason jar.

Living by the Italian border (or almost), it is very common to find in Nice, France, lots of specialty stores selling foods from Italy. That is how I found out that lots of delicacies of Mediterranean influence can be preserved in Mason jars if prepared properly.

Now please READ THIS CAREFULLY. To be able to preserve foods in mason jars for a longer time, do not (ever) include dairy products in your preparation, except if you can absolutely be sure that the whole quantity of your jar’s products will be consumed within 10 days maximum. The white stuffs you can see on my pictures are cream cheese. Trust me, I’m sure I’ll have eaten those little devil rolls within the 10 days!

The other important detail is to thoroughly salt each layer of the eggplant rolls that you pile up progressively in the mason jar, and add the olive oil bit by bit. The salt is that essential ingredient that helps to preserve the foods. And last but not least, the mason jars must be sterilized. Boil some water and pour it in the clean mason jar and on the inner face of the lid (in a sink). After a few minutes, carefully dispose off of the hot water and turn the mason jar upside down to let it dry totally for a few minutes (let’s say the time of your whole preparation).

This dish can be offered as a present just as is, you may want to have it look a bit nicer by adding a ribbon or so. Or, you can keep it to yourself, and eat a few rolls as an appetizer with toothpicks, or as an entree along with green leaves and balsamic vinegar. In all cases, you will find yourself with a large smile on your face, I promise!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 long Eggplant, sliced lengthways (no more than 3mm thick), and halved lengthways too.
• spread cheese (only if following the above recommendations)
• thinly sliced Bressaola (preserved dried beef, very thin slices of charcuterie)
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• dried basil and parsley flakes

 

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven at 180 ° C.
2. Prepare the Eggplant as required so that the slices will be easy to roll up in the final steps.
3. Grease a pan with a tsp of olive oil that you can immediately wipe over the pan with a kitchen paper.
4. Grill the eggplant ‘s slices on both sides. Let cool down for a few minutes.
5. Gently spread cheese on one side of all eggplant’s slices (super optional).
6. Add the Bressaola and immediately roll the eggplant over.
7. Put the rolls in a baking dish.
8. Ligthly salt and pepper. Do not sprinkle with herbs right now but add the minced garlic, and drizzle with olive oil.
9. Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes.
10. Start filling the mason jar with the eggplant rolls. Do not fear putting the rolls very tightly against each other in the jar, actually that will help them refrain from unrolling. Carefully use tongs to stuff the mason jar (or two forks) so that the rolls keep their shape. After each layer is set, salt equally and sprinkle some herbs flakes along with a few pieces of the roasted minced garlic, then pour some olive oil, and start again with a new layer of eggplant rolls, etc. When there is no more eggplant, generously cover up with olive oil before shutting the lid up.
11. Preserve in the door of your fridge for a maximum of 10 days if you have used cheese, 15 to 17 days with Bressaola only.

 

Because of my Birthday, don’t forget to check out my Cookbook’s page, there may be a Discount Offer still available at the time you read this post!

Created and Written by Sophie Rebibo-Halimi, © 2016 All Rights Reserved.