Spicy aubergine and mozzarella pasta. Great recipe for Spicy aubergine and mozzarella pasta. It was a haven and as much as I loved eating curry it was a welcome break and restored me back to my Italian roots! Aubergine and Mozzarella Pasta A delicious homemade tomato pasta sauce, perfectly cooked aubergines and salty, stretchy, gooey strings of Mozzarella make this simple Aubergine and Mozzarella Pasta recipe a real family favourite.
Meanwhile, fry the aubergine in the remaining oil until golden, then stir into the tomato sauce with most of the basil leaves. Pasta alla Norma is a classic Sicilian dish of pasta with eggplant and tomato. Pasta alle melanzane e pomodoro in Italian, is a classic simple dish that packs in flavor and good-for-you ingredients. You can have Spicy aubergine and mozzarella pasta using 9 ingredients and 8 steps. Here is how you achieve that.
Ingredients of Spicy aubergine and mozzarella pasta
- Prepare 3 of medium aubergines, diced into 1cm squares.
- It's 1 of medium onion, finely diced.
- Prepare 1 of large red chilli + 1 birds eye chilli (optional!), sliced.
- You need 2-3 of large garlic cloves, finely diced.
- It's 500 ml of tomato passata.
- It's 2 of balls of mozzarella, drained and diced.
- You need of Parmesan.
- You need of Rapeseed or olive oil.
- It's of Fresh basil (or dried alternative).
Supposedly, the name of the dish comes from a famous Sicilian opera (yes, it's Norma ) composed by Vincenzo Bellini. A combination of flavorful homemade tomato sauce, roasted eggplant and fresh mozzarella makes this pasta scrumptious. Eggplants or aubergines, whether fried, baked sautéed or grilled - each cooking method brings out a different quality of the veggie. Eggplants are the star of this simple dish.
Spicy aubergine and mozzarella pasta step by step
- In a large frying or saucepan (I use 2 for speed!) drizzle 2-3 tablespoons of oil into each pan and warm on a medium to high heat. Share the aubergines between the 2 pans, and stir so that the aubergines are coated in oil. Season with a little salt and pepper..
- Turn the heat down to medium and fry for 10-15 minutes until the aubergines collapse and are soft rather than spongy. It is worth taking the time to do this and an extra few minutes if needed, as this will give the sauce a creamy, rich texture. This is the principle ingredient so it needs to shine!.
- Once the aubergines are done, set aside and add 2 tablespoons of oil to cook the onion (in 1 pan). Turn the heat down to low-medium so that it can cook slowly for 8 minutes until it becomes translucent and soft. Again. Worth taking the time to do this..
- Add the garlic and chilli and stir in for 2 minutes, then return the aubergines back to the pan. Add the passata to the pan and rinse the box/jar out with a 100-150 ml of water and tip in..
- Season the dish with salt and pepper and tear in 5 or 6 basil leaves (or if you ran out like me use 1-2 tsp of dried thyme/oregano instead). Simmer the sauce on a medium heat for 30 minutes stirring occasionally. If it becomes too thick add a little more water..
- This sauce will happily tick along on the stove as long as you check it isn't sticking. It will be lovely for cooking down. Cook your desired amount of pasta per person (around 75g). Whilst the pasta is cooking add the diced mozzarella to the sauce, stir and turn off the heat. Check the seasoning, add a little more herbs or salt and pepper if needed..
- Drain the pasta, leaving a couple of tablespoons of water in the bottom. Add 2-3 spoonfuls of sauce to the pasta pan (per portion of pasta you have cooked) and stir through. Serve with grated Parmesan on top. Enjoy!.
- This sauce will store in the freezer well for another day too..
Reduce heat to low and add marinara sauce. While the eggplant is cooking boil pasta noodles to cook, drain and return to the pan. Add a few large spoonfuls of eggplant/marinara sauce to the pasta and mix to incorporate. Spicy Baked Pasta with Eggplant and Chorizo. Heat a saucepan over a medium heat.