From:
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018275-roasted-eggplant-and-tomato-pasta
The original recipe is so fancy and nuanced, but you know, it's also super delicious to just chop eggplant into big chunks, roast it, and add to a $1 jar of your favorite marinara. This is what I learned and I will do it again and again. Roast eggplant gets all carmelized and I could hardly stop eating it off the pan. My extravagantly lazy version is here, then the original NYT one is below it.
Ingredients
- 1 big eggplant, cut into one inch cubes, slightly bigger than bite sized pieces, it will shrink a bit
- 2 bell peppers, red orange or yellow, deseeded and cut into 5 or 6 large pieces
- Olive oil, at least 2 tablespoons
- Salt, preferably coarse kosher salt
- 1 jar marinara
- 1/2 a pack of linguini
Preparation
Preheat oven to 425
Put tin foil on a shallow roasting pan, spray with cooking spray. You may need 2 depending on the size of your veggies, do not overcrowd them.
Put the chopped eggplant into a big bowl and pour olive oil over it. Mix and repeat until it's well coated. Sprinkle generously with salt and mix again, then spread on the baking sheet. Repeat with bell peppers.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes then take out and give the veggies a shuffle, turn over most pieces to brown more evenly. Return to the oven and bake another 20 minutes. They should be browned and soft and taste delicious. The eggplant gets very soft and kind of falls apart so don't mess with it too much. Big chunks are good and flavorful.
While veggies are baking boil the linguini in salted water according to the package directions, usually about 10 minutes. Drain well and leave in the strainer.
Warm the marinara in the pot from boiling the linguini, and add the roasted veggies once they're done. Mix just a touch and get everything to a good temperature. Serve a big handful of the pasta in a bowl with a big scoop of the sauce.
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INGREDIENTS
1 ¾ pounds eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 to 2 banana or Italian frying peppers, halved, seeded and thinly sliced
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
Kosher salt
12 ounces pasta, such as campanelle or farfalle
2 pounds very ripe heirloom tomatoes, halved through their equators
1 to 2 fat garlic cloves, grated on a Microplane or minced
Large pinch crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons brine-packed capers, drained
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (optional)
Grated ricotta salata or Parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)
Fresh mint or basil leaves, for serving
PREPARATION
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Spread out eggplant cubes and peppers on a rimmed baking sheet. Toss with 3 tablespoons oil and season well with salt. Roast, turning everything, until eggplant and peppers are very soft and deeply golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook pasta in well-salted boiling water until about 1 minute shy of al dente. Drain.
Using the large holes of a box grater, grate tomatoes over a large skillet so the pulp falls into the skillet. To do this, hold on to the curved side of the tomato in your hand and slide the cut, flat side across the holes. Stop grating just before you reach the skin.
Add the garlic, red pepper flakes and 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pan with the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Simmer until tomato pulp is reduced by half, then season to taste with salt.
Add the pasta, capers and butter, if using, to the pan with the tomatoes and bring to a simmer, tossing until butter melts and pasta finishes cooking, about 1 minute. Turn off the heat and toss in eggplant and cheese, if using.
Serve pasta drizzled with a little more oil and the herbs.
