This vegetarian pasta dish is a Sicilian classic. The sauce is made with tomatoes, fried eggplant and famously topped with salted ricotta—a hard ricotta cheese that can be grated and is available in most Italian or fine cheese shops.
2lbeggplantbright round purple or 'japanese' eggplants are best- avoid dark oblong
oil for fryingas needed; peanut or similar
11ozrigatoni pastaor another tube pasta
30ghard salted ricotta cheeseor to taste (very salty!)
Instructions
Make the Tomato Sauce
Cover the bottom of a large skillet with several tablespoons of olive oil. Over low heat, sauté the garlic. When the garlic begins to turn color, add the tomato purée. (See the article for instructions on making the tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes!
Add a pinch of salt and 2 leaves of fresh basil. Cover and simmer the tomatoes for 30 minutes.
After the 30 minutes, blend everything (garlic, oil, tomatoes, basil) to a smooth puree. Use an immersion blender if you have one. Salt to taste and set the sauce aside.
Fry the Eggplant
Dice the eggplants.
Deep fry the diced eggplant at 300° F (150° C) for about 4 minutes.
Remove the eggplant and transfer them to an absorbent towel.
Finish with Pasta
Cook the tube pasta to ‘al dente’ (in salted boiling water) according to package instructions.
In the meantime, heat the tomato sauce (along with 1/4 cup of filtered water) in a large skillet.
Add the diced fried eggplant to the tomato sauce. Stir to combine and simmer until the pasta is cooked.
Add the drained, cooked pasta to the warm tomato sauce and stir to combine.
Top with a sprinkle of grated salted ricotta cheese. Buon appetito!