This is one of my family's favourite pasta dshes. It is very easy to prepare and yet looks and tastes as though you were cooking for hours. A perfect weeknight meal.
1 large Sicilian eggplant or a large regular eggplant
4 medium zucchini
2 cups of your favorite tomato sauce, (simple is best, made with garlic, and onion and fresh basil only)
1 red chili pepper, or chili flakes (optional)
500 grams of rigatoni pasta
1/2 cup or more (to taste) of freshly grated ricotta salata (hard ricotta cheese) or parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1/4 cup of fresh basil
5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil plus additional olive oil for serving
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
METHOD:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Peel half the eggplant and dice, approximately half inch in size. Place on a paper towel and salt. Let stand (see tip below), while you prepare zucchini.
3. Dice zucchini also about half inch, but slightly bigger than the eggplant.
4. In a large bowl, add diced zucchini, and salt and then add the already salted diced eggplant. Do not add more salt to the eggplant.
5. Add 5 tablespoons of olive oil and black pepper to taste and mix well.
6. Spread on to 2 parchment lined cookie sheets. Do not crowd the vegetables.
7. Roast for approximately 40 minutes, but rotate pans half way through cooking time to ensure even roasting and to prevent steaming .
8. Cook until vegetables are soft and have started to brown. Do not overcook the zucchini.
9. Meanwhile cook rigatoni in salted water, for one or two minutes less than the required cooking time.
10. Drain and reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water.
11. Warm up the tomato sauce in a large saute pan and add chili if using.
12. Add roasted vegetables to tomato sauce. Add reserved pasta water, only if necessary.
13. Toss in pasta with the sauce and vegetables.
14. Adjust seasoning.
15. Sprinkle with hand torn basil leaves, freshly grated Ricotta Salata or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Lastly, finish off with a little more drizzle of olive oil.
TIPS:
1. Under cook any pasta that is being tossed into a warm sauce or dressing because it will continue to cook as it absorbs the sauce.
2. The sauce should always be ready before the pasta is completed cooking. In other words, the sauce should be waiting for the pasta, not the other way around, otherwise pasta will be overcooked and clump together.
3. Always generously salt the pasta water, after it boils and before tossing in the pasta.
4. When using eggplant in a recipe, always peel half before slicing or dicing. This will minimize the bitterness of the eggplant in a recipe.
5. Salting eggplant (and draining on paper towel) before cooking ensures that you use less oil in a recipe.
6. I always like to to tear basil by hand when adding to a pasta dish, it releases more intense flavour.
7. When roasting on two cookie sheets, always rotate the pans for even cooking. Otherwise the food will end up roasting in one, and steaming in the other.
8. As well, do not over crowd the vegetables in the roasting pan, otherwise the vegetables will steam not roast.
SERVINGS: This recipe will serve 4 generous portions or 6 smaller portions
