Baked pasta with eggplant is a rich and tasty first course, the kind that wins you over at the first bite. In our home it was born almost by chance, leafing through the pages of an old “diet” recipe book… but light it really isn’t!
The eggplants are fried, the sauce is enriched with butter and melty mozzarella: a combination of simple but incredibly tasty ingredients that turn this baked pasta into true comfort food.
I’m sure that once you try it, it will become one of your favorite dishes as well.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 13.4 oz rigatoni
- 1 cup tomato passata
- 1 eggplant (medium)
- 1 clove onion
- 1 1/2 tbsp butter
- 4.4 oz mozzarella
- basil
- salt
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- vegetable oil (for frying)
Tools
- Teglia
Preparation
Start by peeling the eggplants, then slice them about 3/16 inch (≈0.2 in) thick. Place the slices in a colander, sprinkle them with salt and let them rest for 20 minutes so they lose their excess water and any slightly bitter aftertaste.
Meanwhile, finely chop the onion and sauté it in a pan with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. When it turns golden, add the tomato passata, season with salt and let it simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes. At the end of cooking add fresh basil, either whole leaves or torn.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta. In the meantime, rinse the eggplants and pat them dry with paper towels, then fry them in hot oil until golden. Drain them on paper towels.
Cook the pasta and drain it al dente. Quickly run it under cold water to stop the cooking, then return it to the pot and dress it with the tomato passata, mixing well to distribute it evenly.
Butter a baking dish (or line it with baking paper) and distribute the 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter in small pieces on the bottom. Pour in a first layer of pasta, add some slices of mozzarella and a layer of fried eggplant. Repeat with a second and final layer.
Bake in a preheated oven:
at 428°F (convection) for about 10 minutes
or
at 482°F (conventional) for about 15 minutes,
in any case until a light, inviting crust forms on top.
Remove from the oven, let it set for a couple of minutes and serve your baked pasta with eggplant hot and melty.
