Pasta bake with crispy eggplant and ricotta

My partner comes from a very large family. When I was little, I longed to have a big family like his. I fantasised about long tables filled with food as far as your eyes could see for my imaginary large family to gather around. Now that I have been welcomed into a large family, that dream is clearly not the reality. Yes, it’s lovely to make it happen every now and then but, actually, it’s hard work cooking for a big group of people. Enter my pasta bake. I love this meal for many reasons, including the use of my rich tomato and basil sauce (see recipe below), crispy olive oil-baked eggplants, and ricotta spooned on top. But what I love most about this dish is that it will always happily feed a large group of people … and you still might end up with leftovers to enjoy throughout the week.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 eggplant
• fine sea salt
• 125ml (½ cup) olive oil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 500g rigatoni
• 1 litre (4 cups) tomato and basil sauce, hot (see recipe)
• 2 tablespoons grated parmesan
• 150g mozzarella, grated
• 50g (1 cup) ricotta
• basil leaves, to serve

METHODS

1. Slice the eggplant into circles that are roughly 2cm thick. Place into a colander and sprinkle with a very generous amount of salt on both sides. Leave to sit for 30-45 minutes to remove the moisture.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional). Line a baking tray with baking paper.
3. Rinse the eggplant slices under cold water to remove the salt. Place onto paper towels and pat dry as much as possible.
4. In a shallow bowl, combine the olive oil and oregano. Dip the eggplant slices into the olive oil for 1-2 seconds on each side and place onto the prepared baking tray. Bake for 20 minutes or until crispy and golden, ensuring you check on them as some will cook faster than others.
5. While the eggplant slices are baking, cook the rigatoni in a large saucepan of heavily salted boiling water. Drain the pasta 2 minutes before the suggested cooking time as it will continue to cook when it’s stirred through the sauce. Reserve 125-250ml (½-1 cup) of the pasta cooking water.
6. In an ovenproof casserole dish over medium heat, combine the hot tomato and basil sauce with the pasta. Slowly incorporate the reserved pasta water until you have a smooth and glossy texture. Place the crispy eggplants on top. Sprinkle with the parmesan, followed by the mozzarella. Dollop the ricotta over. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese has melted and is golden and bubbling.
7. Finish with some basil leaves and a drizzle of basil olive oil, then serve.

Serves 6

Popcorn eggplant

I remember the utter delight I felt when KFC released their popcorn chicken. I thought it was one of the most amazing bite-sized snacks I could munch on in the back of the car as Mum drove me home from school. I became a little too obsessed with them, requesting a box every ride home, so my mum challenged herself to make a healthier homemade version. This is how our popcorn eggplant came to be invented. It’s little pieces of pure crispy heaven. While they are delicious eaten on their own – particularly in a big bowl while watching a movie on the couch – this is also a great time to defrost one of those little zip-lock bags of my tomato and basil sauce for them to be dipped into. Enjoy these as a snack or appetiser at your next dinner party.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 eggs
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 eggplant
• fine sea salt
• 100g (2 cups) breadcrumbs
• 45g (½ cup) grated pecorino romano, plus extra to serve
• 35g (¼ cup) plain flour
• sea salt flakes
• freshly ground black pepper
• light olive oil, for frying
• 250ml (1 cup) Tomato and basil sauce, to serve (see recipe)

METHOD

1. In a wide shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs and garlic and set aside. By preparing this early, the garlic will have time to release its flavour into the egg.
2. Trim the ends off the eggplant and cut the eggplant into 4cm thick discs. Stack the discs on top of each other, then slice into 2cm cubes.
3. Place the eggplant in a colander and very generously salt it with fine sea salt. Leave to sit over the sink or paper towel for 45 minutes, to allow as much moisture as possible to be released.
4. Press down firmly on the eggplant to remove any last moisture, then rinse under cold water to remove the salt. Transfer to a plate or wooden board lined with paper towel. Pat the eggplant dry with paper towel.
5. In a shallow bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs and pecorino romano.
6. In a wide shallow bowl, whisk together the flour with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Set up a dredging station. Have the shallow bowl with the flour, then a bowl with the egg wash, followed by a plate with the breadcrumbs and finally a large clean plate or tray to place the crumbed eggplant on.
7. Working with a handful of eggplant cubes at a time, roll them around in the flour until they are evenly coated. Dip them in the egg wash and then the breadcrumbs – apply pressure with your hands to coat the eggplant with the crumbs. Transfer to the clean plate and repeat with the remaining eggplant.
8. Fill a large frying pan with a generous amount of olive oil – about 2-3cm deep. Heat the olive oil over high heat until bubbles form around a wooden skewer inserted upright in the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low and fry a handful of eggplant at a time for 4 minutes on each side or until golden and crispy. Transfer to a wire cooling rack with paper towel placed underneath.
9. Sprinkle the eggplant with a generous amount of pecorino romano and serve with the tomato and basil sauce.

Serves 4

Tip:

When crumbing, use one hand for dry ingredients and one hand for wet.

Rosemary’s bread-stuffed eggplants

On special occasions like a birthday or Christmas Eve dinner, my mum would always ask us what we wanted to eat and, without fail, my brother and I would respond with “Rosemary’s”. What I can tell you is that Rosemary’s is bread-stuffed eggplants. What I can’t tell you is why we call them Rosemary’s. We have no memory as to why they were affectionately given this name, it’s just one of those things. Made with the most delicious stuffing of eggplant, breadcrumbs, oregano, egg and garlic, our family secret is to create indents in the stuffing and pour olive oil into them. The olive oil further flavours the bread stuffing and also helps to create a beautiful golden and crunchy crust. Paired with my tomato and basil sauce, this meal has been on high rotation in our family for years, and I promise it will be in yours, too.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 eggplants
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• sea salt flakes
• 6 slices of stale white bread (about 300g)
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 eggs
• freshly ground black pepper
• 500g (2 cups) Tomato and basil sauce, warmed, to serve (see recipe)
• pecorino romano, grated

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional). Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Cut the eggplants in half lengthways. Place them on the prepared baking tray, cut-side up, and lightly drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkling of salt. Bake for 20 minutes.
3. Take the eggplants out of the oven. They should be soft to touch but still have a slight spring to them. Leave to cool slightly. Reduce the oven temperature to 160C fan-forced (180C conventional).
4. Using a serrated knife, cut the flesh out of the eggplant shells – follow the shape of the eggplant around the edges, then peel out the eggplant flesh.
5. Don’t worry if a few holes or tears are made in the skin. Set five eggplant shells aside, then finely chop the remaining eggplant shell and set aside.
6. Place the slices of white bread in a blender and process until you have a fine and crumbly texture. Place in a large bowl with the oregano, garlic, eggs, a pinch of salt and pepper, the eggplant flesh and the chopped eggplant shell. Combine all the ingredients by mixing them together with your hands and using a squeezing motion.
7. Place the five eggplant shells on a clean pre-lined baking tray. Evenly distribute the eggplant filling among the eggplant shells – fill them as tightly as you can. Using your index finger, make three indents roughly 4cm deep in the filling in each shell and drizzle the olive oil into them.
8. Bake the eggplant shells for 30 minutes or until golden and crispy on top.
9. Serve immediately, with the warm Tomato and basil sauce and a sprinkling of pecorino romano.

Serves 5

Tomato and basil sauce

INGREDIENTS

• 80ml (⅓ cup) extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 onion, peeled and halved
• 4 x 400g cans polpa (finely chopped tomatoes)
• 1 parmesan rind (optional)
• 1 bunch of basil (50-60 g), leaves picked
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• sea salt flakes
• freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

1. Place the olive oil, garlic and onion in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the garlic is turning a very light golden colour.
2. Add the canned tomatoes, parmesan rind (if using), three-quarters of the basil leaves, the sugar and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Stir until well combined and bring to a simmer.
3. Once simmering, turn the heat to low and leave for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the garlic cloves, parmesan rind and onion and discard. Scatter the remaining basil leaves on top and serve the sauce on its own with pasta or with the suggested recipes above. You can also store the sauce in sterilised jars, plastic containers or zip-lock bags in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for 3 months.

Makes 1.75kg

This is an edited extract from Garlic, Olive Oil + Everything Else by Daen Lia, published by Plum, RRP $29.99. Photography: Armelle Habib. Buy now