Eggplant and Sage Pasta

6 Servings

Ingredients:

·        4 medium eggplant, diced

·        1 teaspoon salt

·        1 large bunch of sage, chopped

·        4 cloves garlic, chopped

·        3 tablespoons olive oil

·        1 pound/500 grams Busiate or another twirly shaped pasta like fusilli

·        1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions:

·        Pour olive oil into a pan big enough to eventually hold all the cooked pasta.

·        Heat and add the diced eggplant. Stir and let cook. The eggplant will immediately absorb all of the olive oil, but don’t worry. As it cooks and softens, the oil will come back out.

·        When the eggplant is almost cooked, add the chopped sage, garlic and salt. Stir and continue cooking, adding a bit of water if things start to stick. Cook until the eggplant begins to fall apart and is very tender.

·        In the meantime bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente.

·        Drain the pasta, reserving a cup of the pasta cooking water.

·        Heat the pan with the eggplant, and add the drained pasta, stirring to mix it up, adding a bit of the pasta water to scrape up the burnt bits and bring it all together.

·        Add the cheese and the rest of the pasta water, a bit at a time, stirring to distribute evenly.

·        Serve in a pasta bowl with additional grated cheese on the table.

Options and Notes:

The original recipe calls for globe type eggplants. Asian varieties may be substituted if that’s what you have available.

If you don’t want the texture of the eggplant skin, feel free to peel the eggplant. Picky eaters won’t know they are eating vegetables with the sauce.

A little chopped tomato would give this hearty pasta more color, along with a garnish of chopped sage.