Simple Macaroni with Eggplant
 

Macaroni with Eggplant
1 medium eggplant sliced in 1/4 inch rounds (you will NOT be breading it) (unless you really prefer it that way)

oil for frying

28 ounce can of San Marzano tomatoes, crushed (or Contadina crushed tomatoes)

several cloves of garlic, chopped

4 tablespoons of olive oil

6 fresh basil leaves, torn

1/2 -1 teaspoon of sugar

salt and pepper to taste

1 pound of macaroni, Ziti Rigati or Rigatoni (these are names of "shapes" or tubes; tubular pasta to soak up the sauce and eggplant which will be topping pasta.

Place the sliced eggplant , with the skin on, in a colander and sprinkle each layer with kosher salt. Put a plate on top of the eggplant with a heavy weight on top and allow to sit for at least an hour. This step takes the bitterness out of the eggplant ; the salting releases the fluid into the bowl beneath the colander.

Pat the eggplant dry with a paper towel and heat a large pan with an inch of olive oil. When the oil is hot, fry them till each side is golden brown. Place the fried eggplant in a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb the oil and set aside.

In a large sauce pan, heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the chopped garlic and cook till the garlic starts to turn golden. Add the tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper and let the sauce simmer for about 15-20 minutes, or until the sauce thickens. The longer you cook the sauce the more flavor develops. Make sure you stir often when it thickens so you don’t burn the sauce. Taste for seasoning once the sauce is finished.

In the meantime, in a large pot boil 5 quarts of water. Add the macaroni and cook till al dente.

When the sauce is cooked turn off the heat and add the fresh torn basil leaves.

Drain the pasta and add it to the pan with the tomato sauce. Toss the pasta to coat it well.

Place the macaroni in individual serving bowls and top it with two slices of the fried eggplant.

The macaroni is serve with a simple light marinara sauce made of fresh tomatoes, garlic and basil. And sitting on top of each plate of pasta will be two fried slices of eggplant. Very simple. Cut the eggplant into the macaroni and sprinkle on some grated parm cheese....or pass the cheese.

Each time you dig into that plate you will be eating a slice of Sicily or Southern Italy.

Again, eggplant is not dipped in egg, dipped in flour, dipped in egg, dipped in breadcrumbs eggplant......just fried up as plain rounds, skin and all..........but if you want to go through the trouble of "breading" the eggplant prior to frying.........you could still top your rigatoni with it. Double delicious. But not necessary for this simple vegetarian dish.
　
　
　
　
　

My grandmother, who was from Naples, taught me to prepare the eggplant the same way. People would look at me strange when they saw a colander sitting on the counter with "something" in it and dishes stacked on it.

He had Naples on his mind
 

My grandparents and their families all sailed out of the Port of Naples, having come down from the mountain town of Laurenzana (Potenza Basilicata Province). Many of the "boys" from the village were apprenticed to various craftsmen in Naples.....so it wasn't far; same foods and customs. I would say that Naples was their big "go to" city.


My dad always told me that the pizza in the U.S. wasn't the real Italian pizza. The prize would go to "Napoli" for their deep dish pizza. Would you believe we never had pizza takeout during our childhood? It wasn't until we were teens that we went with friends and ordered "a slice" at a pizza place....or sometimes a whole pizza if the group was large enough. But, Dad still said that wasn't the real pizza. He had Naples on his mind.