Photography: Con Poulos. Styling: Olivia Blackmore.
This Sicilian eggplant pasta bake is the kind of hearty, soul-warming dish that brings the whole family together around the table. With layers of tender roasted eggplant, rich ragù, ziti pasta and golden cheese, it’s a meal that’s absolutely worth the extra effort.
Ingredients
Method
MAKE THE RAGÙ
Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over high heat. Cook onion, celery, carrot and garlic, stirring, for 5 minutes or until onion is soft. Add mince; cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, for 10 minutes or until browned. Stir in tomato paste and oregano for 2 minutes. Add wine, bring to the boil; cook for 4 minutes or until reduced by half. Stir in passata, stock, herbs, parmesan rind and sugar; bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low; cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Remove lid, increase heat to high; cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Season to taste. Discard parmesan rind.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 220°C (200°C fan-forced). Line two large oven trays with baking paper. Cut eggplant lengthways into 1cm thick slices; place on trays, spray with oil. Season. Roast for 20 minutes or until tender.
Cook dried pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 5 minutes. Drain. Cool slightly.
Reduce oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Grease a deep 26cm x 30cm ovenproof dish.
ASSEMBLE THE EGGPLANT PASTA BAKE
Arrange half the eggplant in a single layer over the base of the dish; cover with half the pasta and half the ragù. Top with half the parsley and half each of the cheeses. Repeat layering with remaining eggplant, pasta, ragù, parsley and cheeses.
Cover the dish with foil; bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil; bake for a further 20 minutes or until top is lightly browned. Stand for 10 minutes.
Serve eggplant pasta bake topped with extra chopped parsley.
Eggplant pasta bake ingredient swap
Instead of ziti pasta, you could use penne or rigatoni, if you like.
Save those parmesan rinds
Finished a block of parmesan? Store the leftover rinds in the freezer, in a ziplock bag, to use in this eggplant pasta bake recipe. Parmesan rinds are also great to add depth and flavour to meat sauces, risottos, soups and stews. Just remove any rind remnants before serving.
