How can one pass up a hot creamy plate of pasta? Loaded with veggies and cheese, this dish is an easy weeknight meal and a fantastic alternative to classic tomato sauce.
The sautéed eggplant and sun-dried tomatoes coated with creamy ricotta melt into the tomato sauce with just the right balance of flavour and texture.
It’s simplicity at its best: just pasta, a deeply flavoured sauce with eggplant, sun-dried tomatoes and a soft ricotta cream.
Ingredients
- 250 g rigatoni
- 5 tbps olive oil
- 1 eggplant small, diced and degorged in salt
- 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes with oil drained, roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup passata
- 10-12 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 100 g ricotta
- salt to taste
- handful of parsley, roughly chopped
- Red chili pepper to taste (optional)
Preparation
Dice eggplant and set aside in a bowl. Sprinkle with salt and allow to “sweat” for at least 15-20 minutes. Discard brownish liquid before cooking.
Boil the rigatoni in salted water until al dente. Drain, but set aside 1/4 cup of the cooking water.
Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add garlic and chili (optional). Cook until soft and golden, about 3 minutes. Add eggplant and sauté for 3 minutes. Stir in cherry tomatoes and cook for another 3 minutes. Mix in sun-dried tomatoes before pouring the passata. Simmer for 5 minutes, then set to low-medium heat until the pasta is cooked.
Stir in the ricotta, parsley and rigatoni. Mix so everything is evenly coated. Cook for another minute or so to blend all the flavours. Salt to taste. Use sparingly as the degorged eggplant and sun-dried tomatoes are already salty. Add reserved pasta water to adjust the sauce’s thickness if needed.
Gabi's Italian Food Blog 
One Comment Add yours