Pasta With Let-My-Eggplant-Go-Free! Puree

Serves 4 as a main course, 6 as a starter, or, like 1 if you're as into it as me

Ingredients

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Eggplant pasta

1 pound eggplant, cut into ½ inch slices (Bigger is ok)

⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, lightly smashed (I mean just flatten them, don't take out your aggression on them)

2 springs thyme or oregano, chopped, or a sprinkling of the dried stuff

1 cup liquid -- stock? water? Whatever. I had some water leftover from cooking lentils, so I used that.

2 tablespoons dried tomatoes, minced -- sun-dried? oven-dried? Your call. (See below)

6 leaves basil, cut fine

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 pound long pasta -- spaghetti, linguini, whatever floats your boat

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Oven-dried tomatoes

tomatoes

olive oil

salt and pepper

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Directions

Eggplant Pasta

1. Lightly salt the slices of eggplant, stack them back together and let them hang out for about 20 minutes. This will season them and water will drip out, allegedly removing the bitterness, if it's there. They also say to choose eggplants that are dense and heavy for their size to make sure they're not bitter. But you know how I got mine to not be bitter? I ask the person that sells them to me, which, for me, means that I have to buy my eggplants from farmers' markets. Maybe you don't have quite the same amount of emotional work to do in readjusting your eggplant relationship. I'm glad for you.

2. Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a wide, heavy saucepan, add the garlic cloves, and set over low heat. You're just trying to get them friendly with one another, so don't worry if it just sits there and looks like nothing's happening.

3. Dry off the eggplant, cut it into chunks. When you start hearing the garlic sizzle a little and can smell it, drop in your eggplant and stir to coat it all with oil. Turn the heat up to medium high, add thyme or oregano and stir. When the eggplant is turning translucent and softening, add the liquid, let it come to a boil, and turn it back down to medium-low. Let it bubble for a bit and cover it, leaving a crack for steam to escape. Stir once in a while so that the bottom doesn't stick.

4. Meanwhile, bring water to boil, salt it, and cook your pasta.

5. Check on your eggplant. Is the liquid mostly absorbed or reduced? It should after about 20 minutes or so. Does it look good and mashable? Great. Mash it up with a spoon, and adjust the seasoning to taste. Isn't it great? Silky smooth and garlicky and eggplanty and humming with oil? And totally stress-free! Amazing.

6. Drain your perfect al dente pasta and toss with the eggplant puree. Stir in your minced tomatoes and basil and gild the lily with some more oil. Celebrate your new friendship.

   Oven-dried tomatoes

7. OK, I'm going to keep this short, because it's the easiest thing in the world. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. Slice your tomatoes about a ¼-inch thick. Lay them out, on one layer, on a tray, salt them lightly and drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil.

8. Pop them into the oven and check on them after 2 hours, then every 15 minutes after that. You want them to be dried out, almost like fruit leather, but they're going to taste great -- they'll spark up anything with a punch of tartness, sweetness, and some real umami. It'll make so-so tomatoes great, and good tomatoes amazing. They'll last like this, wrapped up in the fridge, for weeks.

FRANCIS LAM JUNE 26, 2010 5:01AM (UTC)

Francis Lam is Features Editor at Gilt Taste, provides color commentary for the Cooking Channel show Food(ography), and tweets at @francis_lam.