Fusilli With Tomatoes Eggplant And Pine Nuts Recipes

Steps:

• Place eggplant slices on large rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt. Let stand over 20 minutes. Turn eggplant slices over. Sprinkle with salt. Let stand 20 minutes longer. Rinse eggplant. Drain; pat fry with paper towels. Cut eggplant into 1/2-inch cubes. Set aside.
• Heat olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until golden, about 4 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add eggplant; sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in pine nuts, currants, and capers; sauté 1 minute. Add tomatoes with juices; bring to simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but firm enough to bite. Drain. Return pasta to pot. Add eggplant mixture, 1/4 cup cheese, and basil. Toss to combine. Transfer to large bowl. Serve, passing remaining cheese separately.

Steps:

• Toss eggplant with salt in a colander set in a large bowl, then let drain, tossing occasionally, 1 hour.
• While eggplant drains, rinse capers in a sieve and transfer to a small bowl. Cover capers with water by 2 inches and soak 30 minutes. Drain, then repeat soaking. Drain and rinse capers, then squeeze dry and coarsely chop.
• Roast bell pepper on rack of a gas burner over moderately high heat, turning with tongs, until skin is blackened, about 5 minutes. (Or broil pepper on a broiler pan about 5 inches from heat, turning occasionally, about 15 minutes.) Transfer to a bowl, then cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let pepper steam 10 minutes.
• When cool enough to handle, peel pepper and discard seeds, stem, and ribs. Pat pepper dry and purée in a blender until smooth.
• Rinse eggplant and pat dry thoroughly. Heat vegetable oil in a 4-quart pot over high heat until it registers 375°F on thermometer. Fry one third of eggplant, stirring gently, until just golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Fry remaining eggplant in 2 batches, returning oil to 375°F between batches.
• Pulse together olives, basil, mint, parsley, marjoram, and 2 garlic cloves in a food processor until finely chopped.
• Finely chop remaining garlic clove and cook in olive oil along with anchovy in a 5-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until anchovy dissolves and garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Increase heat to moderate and stir in pepper purée, then cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in olive mixture, capers, and wine and cook, stirring, until wine is evaporated, about 1 minute. Stir in eggplant (sauce will be very thick) and remove from heat. Keep warm, covered.
• Cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente, then drain and stir into sauce. Season with salt.
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Steps:

• Heat broiler and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment.
• Brush both sides of eggplant slices with 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Arrange slices on prepared baking sheet and broil in batches until they are deep mahogany brown, turning once halfway through, 5 to 7 minutes per side.
• Adjust the oven to 375 degrees with rack positioned in the center.
• In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the remaining olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, but not browned, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add ground lamb or beef, stirring frequently and breaking up meat into very small pieces with the side of a metal spoon. Season with remaining teaspoon salt, cinnamon and pepper. Sauté until meat is just cooked through. Taste and add more salt or pepper, or both, as needed.
• In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add pine nuts and reduce heat to medium-low. Stir nuts to coat them with butter and continue stirring constantly until nuts are golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes. Keep a close watch over the nuts; they can burn quickly once they begin to brown. Transfer nuts to a bowl while still warm and salt them lightly.
• Coat a 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking dish with remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Spread 1/2 cup of tomato sauce in the bottom of the dish. Lay 1/3 of the eggplant slices in a single layer over the sauce, covering as much surface area of the bottom of the dish as possible. Spoon half the meat evenly over eggplant. Pour 1/3 of the remaining tomato sauce evenly over meat. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the pine nuts. Layer again with eggplant, meat, tomato sauce and pine nuts. Finish with a layer of eggplant and cover with more tomato sauce, sprinkling top with pine nuts.
• Pour 1 cup warm water around the perimeter of the baking dish. (Sauce will thicken as it bakes.) Cover pan with foil and bake for 90 minutes. Remove foil and top eggplant evenly with mozzarella. Bake for 15 minutes longer, uncovered, or until the cheese is bubbling and golden. Serve eggplant warm, over rice.

Steps:

• Place sliced eggplant on a large baking sheet.
• Sprinkle with salt and let stand for 20 minutes.
• Turn slices over and sprinkle with salt.
• Let stand 20 minutes.
• Rinse and pat dry with paper towels.
• cut into 1/2 cubes.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over med-high heat.
• Saute onion for about 4 minutes until golden.
• Add garlic and saute 1 minute.
• Add eggplant and saute about 10 minutes.
• Stir in pine nuts, capers and currants and saute 1 minutes.
• Add tomatoes and bring to a simmer.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Cook pasta in a large pot according to directions.
• Drain and return to pot.
• Add eggplant mixture, basil and 1/4 cup of cheese.
• Toss.
• Serve with remaining cheese separately.

Steps:

• Slice the eggplant and sprinkle with salt. Leave them for 30 minutes, then pat them dry with paper towels.
• Preheat grill or broiler. Brush the eggplant slices on both sides with olive oil and sprinkle them with garlic. Grill them until tender and set aside. When the eggplant has cooled, chop it into half-inch pieces.
• Meanwhile, bring six quarts salted water to a rolling boil and add the fusilli. Cook until al dente.
• While the pasta is cooking, chop the oregano and saute it in the remaining olive oil for one to two minutes. Add the olives, tomatoes and eggplant and heat them through.
• Drain the fusilli. Put the sauce in a heated serving bowl and add the pasta. Toss well and add the pine nuts. Season with salt and pepper and serve. Freshly grated Parmesan cheese should be passed separately.