HOW TO MAKE EGGPLANT AND SAUSAGE PANZEROTTI

I give this recipe weekend status not because it’s terribly time-intensive. But simply because anything involving dough or pastry usually involves more time than we can give mid-week.

Weekday or weekend, I still recommend purchasing a good-quality prepared pizza dough from your local market. I say this not because you can’t make a fantastic dough on your own (and you can!) but because it adds unnecessary time. Good quality pizza dough can be found easily. No need to take time proofing your own dough – unless, of course, you’d like to!

You’ll need to pull out your prepared dough from the fridge about 20 minutes before using it in order to bring it to room temperature and to make it pliable.

HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

HERE’S HOW TO MAKE EGGPLANT SAUSAGE PANZEROTTI:

Prep your marinara: If you’re making your own marinara sauce, do this first. If you’re using my marinara sauce recipe, simply swap out the ground beef for the two Italian sausages. Remove casings on the sausages, break the meat down into 1” bits, sauté them, and then proceed with the marinara recipe (see my Eggplant Parmesan recipe). If you’re using jarred marinara sauce, simply sauté the sausage bits for about 3-4 minutes, then add about a cup and a half of jarred sauce to warm it.

Prep the eggplant for roasting: Cut the eggplant into 1.5” cubes. In a large roasting pan, toss the eggplant with garlic cloves, olive oil, oregano, and season well. Roast for about 30 minutes in the oven at 400˚F.

Combine the Eggplant and Marinara: When the eggplant has finished roasting, combine it with the sausage and marinara sauce.

Roll out your dough: Assuming your dough has been out of the fridge for about 20 minutes, cut it into quarters. Take each quarter and roll it into a ball, then work each quarter into a small circle, about 5” in diameter. Use flour to dust the dough to make it pliable and less sticky. Roll it out to about ¼” inch thick.

Fill the dough: Take each circle of dough and fill the right half with a scoop of eggplant/sausage mixture, top it with about a tablespoon of shredded cheese, and then seal the envelope of dough by turning the left side over to the right side to create a crescent shape. Seal the edges by pinching them and using a little water to seal any gaps.

Bake for about 14 minutes at 400F: Bake until the dough looks golden brown, about 14 minutes. Remember, both your eggplant and your marinara are cooked. The baking process in simply to melt the cheese, combine flavors, and bake the dough. Serve a panzerotto or two to each person.

TIPS AND TROUBLESHOOTING:

Be careful with liquid amounts in the filling: I use a slotted spoon when adding the eggplant/sausage/marinara mixture to the dough in order to control the liquid (i.e. the marinara). If you add too much sauce, this can break the seal of your pastry when baking. While liquid leaking from your pastry doesn’t affect flavor, it affects appearance – so…if you’re entertaining and making lots of these, you’ll want to be a bit careful!