Sausage, roasted aubergine and mozzarella pasta bake
When I posted my recipe for my spicy sausage sauce (jeez, I need to think of a sexier title for that), I promised I would update you if I ever did a spin on melanzane parmigiana with this sauce. Well, I did - I made it a pasta bake. Look, fancy dishes are great and all but pasta bakes are crowd pleasers, packed with flavour and also make amazing leftovers. So when I had my aunt and cousin over to stay for a fun and busy week, this was the perfect farewell lunch. Red wine, Italian salad with balsamic dressing and a big ol’ square of hot, delicious heaven.
I’ll be honest: this is kind of amazing. Think the most flavourful Italian sauce and little bites of peppery Cumberland sausage nestled inside tender shells of congchiglie pasta. Layer that with thin and garlicky coins of roasted aubergine, fresh basil and torn mozzarella. And finally top it all off with a good handful of Parmesan breadcrumbs so you can watch them colour and crisp up in the oven. Talk about nom. My family wolfed this down and my cousin even packed a portion for her plane ride back to Rhode Island.
If you’re worried this is complicated, don’t be. You know I don’t have time for that. The steps look long but it's like making a nicer sandwich - nothing more than an assembly job. Just start with my one-pot sauce. It needs to simmer away for half an hour for those heady flavours to come together, and that thirty-minute window is all you need to get everything else ready. Buon appetito!
Sausage, roasted aubergine and mozzarella pasta bake
Serves 4-6.
INGREDIENTS
1 batch of spicy sausage sauce
400g dried conchiglie pasta
1 medium aubergine
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely minced
Chilli flakes (optional)
250g mozzarella
1 handful fresh basil leaves
1 slice white bread
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper, to taste
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
Slice the aubergine into thin rounds and arrange evenly over one or two lined baking sheets. Mix the olive oil and minced garlic, along with a small pinch of chilli flakes (optional) and a generous pinch of salt. In a large bowl, toss together the oil and slices together and then arrange over one or two lined oven sheets. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, keeping an eye to make sure the aubergine chars but doesn't completely burn.
Add the conchiglie pasta to a large pan of salted boiling water and cook according to the package instructions (mine said 13 mins) or until al dente.
In a mini-chopper or food processor, process the slice of bread until it turns into fine breadcrumbs. Stir through the Parmesan cheese.
When the pasta is ready, drain all but a tablespoon of the pasta water and add both to the pot of sauce. Mix thoroughly and check for seasoning, adding salt and/or pepper as needed.
Spoon half the pasta into a good-sized rectangular oven dish. Top evenly with half of the aubergine slices, dot with half the shredded mozzarella and scatter with about eight fresh basil leaves. Sprinkle over a third of the Parmesan breadcrumbs. Repeat with another layer of pasta, aubergine slices and mozzarella and scatter over the remaining Parmesan breadcrumbs. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are golden and crisp.
Notes: You could easily make the sauce the day before and then warm it up when you make the pasta bake. Too lazy for the Parmesan breadcrumbs? Leave them out, no biggie. Want to throw in some more additions? Go for it.
