Riccioli Con Melanzana E Mozzarella

Total Time: 1 hr 45 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr 15 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 300 g macaroni (riccioli amalfitani or similar pasta)
• 3 medium sized eggplants
• 4 plum tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 100 g mozzarella cheese, diced (ideally buffalo, but cow's milk will work)
• 10 basil leaves, shredded
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• abundant freshly grated parmigiano (at least a half cup)
• salt and pepper

Recipe

• 1 peel and sliced the eggplant; salt the slices and put them in a colander in the sink for an hour, while the salt draws out their bitter juices.
• 2 rinse them, pat them dry, and dice them finely.
• 3 heat the olive oil in a large deep skillet and sauté the onion until it has become golden and translucent.
• 4 add the eggplant and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.
• 5 add the tomatoes and the basil, check seasoning, and cook the sauce for 15 minutes.
• 6 while preparing the sauce you should also heat the pasta water, salt it, and cook the pasta; by this point the pasta should be about done.
• 7 drain it, and turn it into a bowl with the mozzarella and freshly grated parmigiano.
• 8 serve at once, with more parmigiano for those who want it.