Steps for Scialatielli Aumm Aumm with eggplants and fior di latte

• First, wash the eggplants well and cut them into cubes with the skin on.

  

• Then place the eggplant cubes in a colander and sprinkle them with fine salt, putting a weight on top and letting them rest like this for at least half an hour. This way the eggplants will lose some of their bitter vegetable liquid (see in the photo below how much bitter liquid they release!). Finally, rinse them and dry them well with a kitchen cloth or paper towels.

  

• Take a deep frying pan and pour in a generous amount of seed oil (I use high-oleic sunflower oil because it maintains a high smoke point — see Buying Tips at the end of the article), then add the diced eggplants and cook them over medium heat for about 4–5 minutes. If possible, use a food thermometer and bring the oil to about 356°F and fry them until golden.

  

• When cooked, remove the eggplant cubes from the pan with a slotted spoon, trying to remove excess oil, and place them to drain on a bowl lined with plenty of paper towels, along with 2 garlic cloves, salt and basil (to let them absorb flavor).

  

• In another pan, meanwhile, sauté the chili pepper (optional) with two more garlic cloves (without letting them brown) in 1/3 cup of good quality extra virgin olive oil for a couple of minutes.

  

• Then add the fresh cherry tomatoes, previously washed and halved, to the pan. Leave a few whole for the final decoration.

  Finally, add a few torn basil leaves and adjust the salt.

• Cook the cherry tomatoes over high heat for about 4 minutes, then lower the heat, cover with a lid and let them wilt, cooking for about 15 minutes.

• When the tomatoes are cooked and have formed a nice sauce, add the eggplants into the pan.

  Then mix well for a couple of minutes over low heat and turn off the heat, letting it rest.

  

• Meanwhile, put a pot of plenty of salted water on the stove and bring it to a boil.

  Then add the scialatielli (or the pasta you prefer) and cook them until al dente (draining them a few minutes before the cooking time indicated on the package).

  At this point, transfer the al dente pasta to the pan with the tomato and eggplant sauce, turn the heat back to low and finally add the fior di latte (preferably from Agerola) cut into small cubes on top.

  Continue mixing until the fior di latte has melted and become nice and stringy.

• Finally, turn off the heat and add a generous sprinkle of grated Parmigiano Reggiano (optional, but it goes very well) and some fresh basil leaves and a few whole cherry tomatoes to garnish.

  Serve the Scialatielli Aumm Aumm hot and stringy.