Eggplant, Italian Sausage with Penne- 9/19/11
This recipe is a variation on the classic Sicilian eggplant pasta. The star in this dish is the eggplant! It takes a bit of time to pan cook the eggplants but it worth all the effort. I used Asian eggplants because they are easier to find and they are the perfect size for this dish. I wanted a light dish so I did not use any cheese at all. The Italian sausage gave the sauce a lot of flavor and the eggplants are so tasty.
This is really nice dish to serve when you have a big crowd to feed.
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This dish is also tastier the next day which is perfect when you have some leftovers.
Close look at the dish.
Preparation work..
Ingredients (serves 6 to 8)
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Chopped the onions, cut the eggplants into rounds, peel the garlic |
Sauté the onion until soft and add the garlic. continue to sauté for another minute or so. |
Add a generous spoon of pepper flakes. If you want your dish to be spicy then add more if you don't want it to be spicy skip the pepper flakes. |
Pour the garlic, onion, pepper flakes combination in a bowl and set aside. |
In the same skillet, add the Italian sausage. Sauté until the meat is cooked. |
Pour the meat on top of the onion, garlic, pepper flakes combination and set aside. |
In an oiled pan, add the eggplant. Eggplant tend to absorb lots of oil so brush some more oil on top of each eggplant. |
Once the eggplants are browned put them aside. |
In a large saucepan pour the meat, garlic, onion and pepper flakes combination together and add a can of dice tomatoes... |
Add the large can of whole tomatoes and hand crush them. |
Bring the pot to a boil and lower the heat to medium low and let the sauce simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes so that all the flavors are coming together. |
After 20 minutes add a bunch of fresh basil leaves... |
Add the eggplant and continue to simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes. |
Cook the penne accordingly and it is ready to be served. I usually add a bit of butter, oil and a couple spoons of fried garlic to my pasta. |
Filed as: Pasta/Rice