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Eggplant, Italian Sausage with Penne- 9/19/11

 

 This recipe is a variation on the classic Sicilian eggplant pasta.  The star in this dish is the eggplant!  It takes a bit of time to pan cook the eggplants but it worth all the effort.  I used Asian eggplants because they are easier to find and they are the perfect size for this dish.  I wanted a light dish so I did not use any cheese at all.  The Italian sausage gave the sauce a lot of flavor and the eggplants are so tasty.

This is really nice dish to serve when you have a big crowd to feed.

This dish is also tastier the next day which is perfect when you have some leftovers.

Close look at the dish.

 

Preparation work..

Ingredients (serves 6  to 8) 

1 pound Italian sausage

2 Asian eggplants 

1 large onion, chopped

3 garlic gloves, chopped

1 large can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes

1 tablespoon of pepper flakes

1 small can of diced tomatoes

Bunch of basil leaves

1 pound penne or rigatoni

freshly ground pepper

 Salt and pepper to taste

Chopped the onions, cut the eggplants into rounds, peel the garlic 

Sauté  the onion until soft and add the garlic.  continue to sauté for another minute or so.

Add a generous spoon of pepper flakes.  If you want your dish to be spicy then add more if you don't want it to be spicy skip the pepper flakes.

Pour the garlic, onion, pepper flakes combination in a bowl and set aside.

In the same skillet, add the Italian sausage.  Sauté  until the meat is cooked.

Pour the meat on top of the onion, garlic, pepper flakes combination and set aside.

In an oiled pan, add the eggplant.  Eggplant tend to absorb lots of oil so brush some more oil on top of each eggplant.

Once the eggplants are browned put them aside.

In a large saucepan pour the meat, garlic, onion and pepper flakes combination together and add a can of dice tomatoes...

Add the large can of whole tomatoes and hand crush them.

Bring the pot to a boil and lower the heat to medium low and let the sauce simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes so that all the flavors are coming together. 

After 20 minutes add a bunch of fresh basil leaves...

Add the eggplant and continue to simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes.

Cook the penne accordingly and it is ready to be served.  I usually add a bit of butter, oil and a couple spoons of fried garlic to my pasta.

 

Filed as: Pasta/Rice

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