This is actually about using more tomatoes, if only for the sauce. Something similar came up in my YouTube feed, so I went looking for recipes. My recommendations are now eggplant cooking channels. Sigh. Many of the recipes were by Jewish bloggers, serving this on the High Holy Days. Good timing. Ok, I decided to top them with mozzarella, so this version is no longer kosher, but everything up to that point is.
While I didn't grow the 50 pounds of tomatoes it would take to break even on the new pots and soil, I probably grew 10 lbs of them. That's more than I was expecting. I wouldn't have spent $3 per pound on vine-ripened tomatoes for this, but it was a great way to use a sudden glut off several plants, plus some of the tomato paste pucks I had frozen.
I don't shop often at Trader Joe's, but went over to the eggplant barrel while I was there for some olives and an apple. They were huge and half the price of everywhere else, so I got two for this recipe. Did not take into account that they were too wide for the V-slicer. Even slicing imperfectly by hand, I only needed one for this recipe and ended up roasting the other into baba gannouj.
This recipe has a lot of components. Wish I had thought that through and made some of it in advance. You could also use a small jar of pasta sauce instead of making your own. Again, every recipe for the foreseeable future is going to be tomato-related.
*1 lb lean ground beef (90% or higher)
kosher salt and cracked pepper as needed
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp allspice
*1/4 C chopped parsley
*1/4 C chopped cilantro
1 Tb fresh or 1 tsp dried mint
*2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large or 2 medium eggplants
olive oil as needed
*1/2 red onion, diced
*1 carrot, diced
*1 rib celery, diced
*1 Tb fresh basil or 1 tsp dried
*1-1/2 lbs fresh tomatoes, diced, or one 28 oz can crushed
*2 Tb tomato paste
*2 Tb Marsala or Port, optional
1 C shredded mozzarella, optional
1. In a bowl, knead together ground beef, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, paprika, cumin, allspice, chopped parsley, chopped cilantro, mint, and one minced clove of garlic. Refrigerate for an hour while you do the rest of the prep.
2. Preheat oven to 400º. Cut off the cap of the eggplant and slice lengthwise into slabs less than half an inch thick. Ideally, you will have 8 slices so each gets 2 oz of meat. Lay on parchment-lined baking sheets. Brush lightly with olive oil, bearing in mind that eggplant is a sponge and you don't want to add too much. Flip and do the other side. Then sprinkle lightly with salt. Roast for 15 minutes, flip the pieces, and roast an additional 5 minutes. You want them flexible and only half cooked. Set aside to cool.

3. While the eggplant is roasting, start the sauce. Drizzle about 2 Tb of oil into a saucepan and heat over medium. Add diced onion, celery, and carrot and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add one clove minced garlic, the basil, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to a low boil and cook until everything softens together into a sauce, about half an hour. If desired, use an immersion blender to smooth it out. Add wine, if using, and allow the alcohol to boil off. Taste and adjust seasonings.
4. To assemble, turn the oven down to 350º. Ladle half a cup of the sauce into a 9x13 casserole and spread it around to coat the bottom.
5. Divide the meat into however many slices of eggplant you have. Spread thinly and cover as much of the eggplant surface as you can. Roll up from the cap end to the round one and place, seam-side down, in the dish. Repeat with all the slices and meat.
6. Pour remaining sauce over the rolls. Bake until a thermometer reads 165º when inserted into the thickest roll, about 40 minutes. If desired, pull the casserole out when they reach 140º and sprinkle with cheese. Replace and continue to bake to temp. Allow to rest 10 minutes before serving.
Difficulty rating :-0 ( :) if you use a jar of sauce)