Seasonal local food recipe No.291 – Aubergines with pasta and cheese
This is an old favourite from Vegetarian Meals by Rosamund Richardson. It is good served with a green salad.
Serves 4-6
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Ingredients
2 medium aubergines
olive oil
225 g pasta shapes
3 tbsp tomato puree
1 garlic clove, crushed
225 g strong cheese, grated
salt and pepper
Method
Cut the aubergines into fairly thin slices and sprinkle with salt. Let them sweat for 30 minutes, and then rinse the salt off and wipe dry. Cook the aubergine in olive oil – they absorb it well, so you will need quite a lot – until they are soft and slightly browned.
Cook the pasta ‘al dente’. Make up 300 ml of tomato sauce using the tomato puree, crushed garlic and water. Put layers in a baking dish of the tomato sauce, sliced aubergine, pasta and cheese, seasoning with salt and pepper as you go. Finish with a layer of cheese and bake at 180°C/Gas mark 4 for 25 minutes.
