About the Recipe
A Sicilian classic that is absolutely divine and makes the most of the array of textures that aubergine offers.
Usually this dish is made with salted ricotta cheese but this is quite difficult to find. If you want some of the similar funk but cannot find it use pecorino or parmesan.
Ingredients
1 aubergine
1 courgette - optional
180g pasta of your choosing (I recommend penne or rigatoni)
1 can tomatoes
Pinch of oregano
Pinch of salt
2 cloves garlic
5-8 basil leaves
Ideally salted ricotta but parmesan does the job
Couple of tablespoons of olive oil
Preparation
Traditional method
Prepare your vegetables: cut the vegetables into relatively large cubes. Cover them in salt to draw out moisture and leave for 30 mins. Rinse with cold water if you used quite a lot of salt, if not, pat dry directly and fry in a pan with a substantial amount of oil until it develops a crunchy brown crust.
Tomato sauce: fry garlic with a touch of olive oil then add your tomatoes, oregano and salt.
Combine: return your vegetables to the sauce and add your cooked pasta.
Sprinkle with parmesan (or ricotta salata if you have some) and enjoy!
Modern method (Air-fryer)
Replace the pan frying step with an airfrying one, around 10 minutes at 160C should work but if in doubt reduce the heat slightly and wait slightly longer.