Linguini with eggplant and tomato.

My tweak of a classic Sicilian dish. I've posted the recipe before, but I make this dish so often that some pictures are deserved. Besides, I've added a few improvements. The result is a pasta dish that is luxuriously rich, as it uses an almost unconscionable amount of olive oil, but still fresh and guilt-free.

Ingredients (for 2):

- long pasta, like linguini
- one good-sized eggplant, cut into half-inch slices
- three plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
- red wine
- garlic
- chili flakes
- lots and lots of olive oil
- minced parsley, basil (fresh if possible)

Method

Pour lots of oil into the pan, layer in the eggplant, and sprinkle over some salt. Cook the eggplant undisturbed on low heat, flipping just once when the side is very brown. Cook until very soft. Keep adding lots of oil, as necessary.

When done, set aside, but do not drain. The oil will add silkiness to the eggplant.

Start cooking the pasta. Meanwhile, simmer garlic and chili flakes in a pan until aromatic. Add tomatoes. Continue adding just enough pasta water to the pan to keep the tomatoes from drying out.

When the tomatoes have broken up and start to become saucy, add a little bit of wine to the mixture.


Drain the pasta when it's al dente, and add the pasta, eggplant, and herbs to the sauce. Toss, and add more salt and pepper to taste.

Yummmm.