Petits Rouleaux d'Aubergine Farcis

[Stuffed Eggplant Mini-Rolls]

Last night, Maxence and I threw a little dinner-party for my two dear friends, Marie-Laure and Laurence, and their respective boyfriends, Ludovic and Jean-Christophe. Over the next few days, I will post the menu for this dinner...

You can see us pictured here in our living-room : from left to right, Marie-Laure, Ludo, myself, Laurence and Jean-Christophe. Interesting detail on this picture : you remember Stéphan and Patricia, our neighbor-friends? Through the window behind us, you can see their kitchen window : say hi to Stéphan and Patricia! Maxence is not on the picture, because there had to be a photographer. But I don't want you to think I'm hiding him from you, so here's a picture of him, too.

After an apéritif during which we nibbled on sweet potato chips (ethnic-store bought), we sat down to eat the first course, stuffed eggplant mini-rolls.

Stuffed Eggplant Mini-Rolls

- 18 slices of grilled eggplant : I used two bags of the delicious frozen eggplant slices from Picard, but if you don't have that kind of product on hand, slice and grill three eggplants
- two large Carrés Frais. Carrés frais are squares of fresh cheese, lightly salted. Substitute cream cheese or fresh goat cheese.
- a small jar of black tapenade (olive paste)
- a handful of pinenuts

(Serves 6.)

Lightly oil a large gratin dish. If you use frozen eggplant slices, thaw them. Toast the pinenuts in a dry skillet. Put the cheese in a small bowl, and fluff it with a fork.

Take each eggplant slice in turn, spoon a little cheese on the largest end, add a little tapenade, sprinkle a few pinenuts, and roll up the slice. Use a toothpick to hold it into place, and put the roll in the gratin dish.

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) and put the dish in for about ten minutes. They should be warm, but not hot.

I served each of us three rolls, arranged in a triangle, with three olives (brought back from Italy by Laurence and Jean-Christophe) in the middle, and slices of baguette. The different tastes complement each other very well, making this a light and fresh opener...