Eggplant Rolls with Chicken Liver Filling
For us Ukrainians, and pretty much wherever we happen to be, the word “appetizer” carries a sacred meaning of its own. If there's an appetizer, as people say, then there's everything. The theory of the ideal appetizer says: there must be one, there must be enough of it, and it must be easy to make.
The best appetizer of all is the single-portion kind. It might be herring cut into pieces, or crunchy pickled cucumbers, pickled tomatoes, left to stand until the first frost, or simple little canapé sandwiches. For some reason I remember an acquaintance who always cooked a liver cake and tiny rolls of eggplant or zucchini, wrapping all sorts of good things in them: meat, fish, sausage, spicy salads. She brought them to New Year office parties, and the appetizers vanished in no time!
In Europe they wrap everything in everything. The tastiest thing I've ever tried was crab meat (real crab, not what goes into crab salad) with herbs, wrapped in a thin slice of cheese. Rolls are very often held together with toothpicks so they don't unroll. And it's easier to pick up single rolls from a big platter by the toothpick.
There are also large rolls: quite thick, with a lot of filling. Usually whatever the roll is made of is spread with the filling, or the filling is laid out, and then everything is rolled up, so that a slice looks like a many-turned spiral. For example, the Italian braciole is a lot of meat (beef, pork or chicken) filled with Parmesan, in breadcrumbs and egg. Or Rouladen, a beef roll filled with onion, bacon and pickles.
Sushi, known to everyone, is a traditional Japanese roll in which rice and seafood (and more) are wrapped in each other. You can't even say exactly what is wrapped in what. But on the menus of the ubiquitous sushi bars it's called rolls.
I remember being treated in the Caucasus to a superb appetizer: eggplant rolls with garlic, filled with walnuts, garlic and cilantro. It tastes like bazhe sauce and is somewhat like satsivi; in fact, it is satsivi.
More with liver
Chicken Liver PâtéHomemade chicken liver pâté braised with onion, carrot and celery, then blended with butter. A smooth, creamy spread for sandwiches that keeps in the fridge.
Homemade Beef Liver Pâté with Salo and VegetablesTender homemade beef liver pâté with salo, carrot, onion and butter. Easy step-by-step recipe for sandwiches, canapés and picnics.
Chicken Liver SaladWarm chicken liver salad with ripe autumn pears and soy sauce. Quick, filling starter with an original taste. Step-by-step photo recipe.
Liver Cake with MushroomsSavory beef liver cake: thick liver pancakes layered with a creamy mushroom and onion filling. A festive Ukrainian appetizer, step by step with photos.
Fried Beef Liver with OnionsFried beef liver with onions: tender floured liver fried in butter, served with sumac-pickled white onion. A quick hot appetizer or main course with mash.Ingredients
12-15 rolls
- Eggplants 2
- Onion 1
- Chicken livers 200 g
- Garlic 4-5 cloves
- Butter 30 g
- Olive oil 100 ml
- Spices: black pepper, savory, coriander, salt, flour, wine vinegar to taste
- Parsley to garnish
Step-by-step recipe
- The eggplants should be young, with seeds not yet formed. Long, nearly cylindrical ones are best. Wash the vegetables and cut off the ends. With a big sharp knife, carefully cut them lengthwise (!) into thin slices no more than 5 mm thick. Simply put, you want long strips. There's no need to peel the eggplants.
- Eggplants are usually soaked in salt to draw out the bitterness; that's up to you.
- Fry the eggplant strips in olive oil until nicely golden. It's crucial not to overcook them. As soon as they turn golden, flip them over at once. When the second side is done, immediately move them to a large plate to cool. One more important point: don't stack the fried eggplant. All the strips should cool laid out in a single layer.
- Peel the onion and chop it finely. Fry the chopped onion in olive oil, or stew it under a lid until it turns a pleasant golden-brown. Onion like this tastes sweet. As kids we loved it with fresh black bread.
- In a separate pan, fry the chicken livers until done, after rinsing them and dredging them in flour. Don't salt them or add spices. Just fry until cooked, as for chicken liver salad.
- Once the liver is nearly done, add the fried onion and stew everything under a lid for 8-10 minutes over low heat. Then take the pan off the heat and let the liver and onion cool to room temperature.
- Put the cooled liver and onion through a meat grinder twice to make a mince. This is how traditional liver pâté is made; the technique is very similar.
- Next, add a piece of soft butter, salt, ground black pepper, dried savory and ground coriander to the mince, to taste. By the way, the spicier it is, the tastier.
- Mix the mince thoroughly with a fork. Note that I mean working it, not just stirring. The mince should be completely smooth.
- Put a little mince on each piece of fried eggplant (I'll let you in on a secret: more is better) and roll them up around the filling.
- Arrange all the rolls on a plate or platter and place sprigs of parsley around them.
- Make a garlic sauce. There's nothing difficult about it.
- Peel the garlic, put it in a mortar, and add salt and black pepper. Grind with the pestle until smooth. Add 1 tsp of wine vinegar. Mix it all together. Add 2-3 tbsp of olive oil. Grind everything very thoroughly until it becomes a sauce.
- Pour the sauce over the rolls arranged on the platter. Chill the appetizer in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Eggplant rolls are an exceptionally tasty appetizer that many amateur and professional cooks will appreciate.
Silicone dough mat with markingsAliExpress
Dough scraper with scaleAliExpress
Kitchen scale up to 5 kgAliExpress
Pull chopper for garlic and onionAliExpress
Oil sprayerAliExpress
Vegetable chopper with handleAliExpress| Yield: | 12-15 rolls |
| Calories: | 216 kcal per 100 g |
| Prep: | 15 mins |
| Cook: | 30 mins |
| Total: | 45 mins |
| Cuisine: | European |
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