Eggplant rolls with spaghetti are a greedy version of traditional Sicilian pasta with eggplant . A dish of baked pasta, which in Sicily is often prepared in summer, on Sundays or holidays. A pasta alla norma on the contrary: the slices of aubergine are rolled around the spaghetti with tomato sauce to form rolls, which will be browned in the oven until their surface is crunchy. And for the sweet tooth, they can be enriched inside with a piece of provolone or tuma.
RECIPE
COURSE first course
KITCHEN Sicilian
Low DIFFICULTY
PREPARATION 1 hour
COOKING 20 minutes
TOTAL TIME 1 hour 20 minutes
PORTIONS 6 people
INGREDIENTS
3 elongated eggplants
1 liter of tomato sauce
250 grams of spaghetti
100 grams of grated Parmesan (and / or Sicilian pecorino, if you like)
a clove of garlic
fresh basil, just enough
BIO extra virgin olive oil , just enough
salt, just enough
olive oil for frying, just enough
salted or baked ricotta (or parmesan or pecorino), just enough
METHOD
Fried eggplant and pasta rolls are simple to make.
I suggest you prepare both the tomato sauce (so that it has time to cool) and the fried aubergines a few hours in advance (so they will lose some excess oil).
1) Wash the aubergines, remove the ends and cut the aubergines into slices about one centimeter thick: put in a colander and lightly salt them. Leave them to rest for at least an hour so that they lose some of the vegetation water, then dab them carefully to absorb moisture. In this way the frying will be drier.
2) Pour the olive oil into a pan and fry the aubergines until golden brown. If you prefer, you can also use a peanut or sunflower oil, but when it comes to eggplant or zucchini, olive oil is preferred .
3) PREPARE THE TOMATO SAUCE : Put the extra virgin olive oil and the garlic clove in a saucepan : brown the garlic over low heat, then add the tomato sauce, plenty of fresh basil, a pinch of sugar if you like and salt. Cook over low heat and covered for about 15-20 minutes, then remove the garlic.
4) Preheat the convection oven to 200 degrees.
5) Boil the spaghetti in abundant salted water and drain them al dente (the important thing is that they are cooked just enough to be able to roll them up).
6) Season the pasta using three quarters of the tomato sauce and stir in plenty of grated Parmesan (and / or pecorino if you love strong flavors).
7) Arrange the eggplant slices on the work surface, fill them with a forkful of spaghetti (roll them up on themselves with the help of a spoon and fork) and roll up the aubergines so that the spaghetti does not come out.
8) Put the rolls in a baking dish sprinkled with a little tomato sauce. Continue for all the Sicilian-style fried eggplant and pasta rolls. Spread the leftover tomato sauce over the pasta and eggplant rolls and sprinkle with a drizzle of organic extra virgin olive oil and a little parmesan or pecorino cheese and fresh basil.
9) Place the pan in the preheated oven at 200 g and cook the pasta rolls and fried eggplant for 15/20 minutes or until the surface of the rolls is browned. Once cooked, sprinkle the pasta and fried eggplant rolls with Parmesan cheese or, better, with salted or baked ricotta, decorate with a few leaves of fresh basil and serve immediately. Enjoy your meal!
