Pasta with Eggplant

Back from Japan! The food was amazing. A post on that to follow, and hopefully recipes in the future. But for now, it's back to - what else? - Italian!

There's a recipe that's been tempting me from "Italian Country Cooking" - it's for a type of pasta casserole with eggplant, smoked mozzarella, breadcrumbs, tomato sauce, basil. It sounds delicious. Unfortunately, it's a slightly more involved recipe, which means it frequently falls off my list. This time, I actually bought an eggplant and was all set to go - and then I ran out of time. Desperate to use the eggplant before leaving for Japan, I came up with the recipe below, which is kind of a quick version - I would imagine - of the casserole.

I also considered not adding the tomato sauce - something I'll have to try in the future. In that case, I would have sauteed the eggplant in the garlic, etc., as described, then tossed in the pasta and sprinkled it all with toasted breadcrumbs, probably skipping the mozzarella but adding plenty of parmesan.

In any a case, it was a hit. Even Joef, who was professedly not a fan of eggplant, loved it and called for a repeat performance. I forgot how flavorful eggplant is - it really infuses the whole sauce, and is very hearty.

3/4 lb short pasta

3 cloves garlic, chopped

Olive oil

1 medium eggplant, partially skinned, chopped, and salted (see instructions below)

Fresh or dried basil

8 oz tomato sauce or less

Grated mozzarella, for serving

The first step is (thanks, Internet!) to prep the eggplant. Start by cutting off the tip, then partially skinning it - so use a potato peeler to peel off a strip, leave a strip, peel off a strip, etc. - until it's striped. Next, chop the eggplant into roughly bite-sized chunks. Place the eggplant in a collander over paper towels, and salt lightly, tossing the eggplant so the salt gets integrated. Leave it for 30 minutes or so. Drain, rinse, and pat dry. This has something to do with the natural absorption of the eggplant - improving it, or limiting it, or something or other. In any case, it worked.

Cook your pasta.

In the meantime, drizzle olive oil liberally into your pan. Turn the heat to medium-high and add the garlic. After a minute or two, add the eggplant and some basil, and stir to coat in the olive oil. Turn the heat to medium and saute until the eggplant begins to soften and lightly brown. Then, add your tomato sauce (you may not need the full can, depending on how tomato-y and saucey you want it) and stir. Bring to a boil again, then reduce heat to low to simmer. Give it at least 10-15 minutes.

When ready, pour sauce over pasta and top with grated mozzarella right away so it gets melty.