Ziti with Roasted Eggplant and Ricotta Cheese
I have had the esteemed pleasure to cook and review a dish from a legendary and well known cook book author. You know her famous son who assists in judging one of my favorite television shows, Master Chef. This legendary woman has cooked alongside Julia Child and is absolutely fascinating.
Lidia Bastianich is just about to release a new cook book “Lidia’s Favorite Recipes” full of classic Italian dishes common from her hometown and easy to make. I opted to make her Ziti with Roasted Eggplant and Ricotta for a get-together and we all fell in love.
The dish is pretty simple to make and full of intense classic flavors. I did make some minor alterations to the cooking technique, but nothing too major. It yields for 6 servings so I decided to half most of the recipe which still fed a huge crowd, but I’m sure when you decide to check out her book you can follow her recipe to a T and have even more of this delicious pasta dish.
Lidia insists on using San Marzano tomatoes as well as I because we all know they are the best. I drained and roasted the eggplant just as she explains and what emerged was a crisp exterior and soft center. The sauce was just made of the cooked tomatoes and dollops of ricotta cheese. How can you go wrong there? You can’t.
Recipe adapted from Lidia Bastianich
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb ziti or penne
- 1 large eggplant
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 32 oz can San Marzano whole tomatoes
- 1 cup whole milk ricotta
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup freshly graped Parmigiano-Reggiano
- Fresh basil, shredded
- Olive oil for drizzling
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Trim ends off eggplant and peel 1 in sections off skin leaving half of skin intact. Cut into 1 in cubes and sprinkle with 2Tb salt. Dump in colander and allow to drain for 1 hr. Rinse in cool water and pat dry very well.
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees and place eggplant on foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. Bake in oven for about 25 minutes until brown, turning once midway through.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta.
- In a separate skillet, heat olive oil and add sliced garlic. Cook until lightly golden, about 3 minutes. Add whole tomatoes, crushing them by hand as you add them in, red pepper flakes and season with salt. Bring sauce to a boil and then reduce for 10 minutes.
- When pasta is done, drain and add it back to its pot. Add half of the tomato sauce and roasted eggplant (when done). Add heaping spoonfuls of ricotta and toss lightly to coat. Add basil, Parmigiano cheese and remaining tomato sauce. Taste for seasoning.
Sam, this dish looks absolutely amazing. And the cheese- yum!
Jennie @themessybakerblog recently posted..#SundaySupper Soy Glazed Chicken
This is the perfect summer dinner with a salad!! It just sounds so wonderful.
The Wimpy Vegetarian recently posted..Rainy Day Comfort
We both must have a weakness for pasta. This is my kind of dish too! Looks fantastic Samantha!
Sarah recently posted..Chicken artichoke and capers with angle hair pasta (how to feed an army on a budget)
Looks deliciuos. For how amny hungry people would that be?
I only used half a box of penne which is 1/2 lb and it made a lot! It fed about 8 people as a side dish at a bbq and there was still leftovers!
So fresh and simple – a great way to showcase Summer produce! Love this recipe.
Liz @ The Lemon Bowl recently posted..Whole Wheat Pumpkin Apple Muffins
Hello grea recipe but no mention of pasta weight/amount?!
Hi Shaun. It was 1/2lb penne or zitti. I must have missed adding that in. Thank you for letting me know!
An email told me the other day that it’s eggplant season, is that true? Eggplant is delicious and this recipe looks fantastic. Looking fwd to trying it, thanks for sharing!
@bluenotebacker recently posted..Jumpstarting the Electric Chair
How much olive oil do you use to cook the garlic in? I made this recipe and guessed at the amount based on other Lidia recipes. It was sooooo delicious..
Hi Lee. To be honest, I don’t usually “measure” olive oil when I saute. I do a good drizzle in the pan a few times…I would guesstimate 2 Tb?
What does it mean Trim ends off eggplant and peel 1 in sections off skin leaving half of skin intact? I am perplexed!! LOL
Hi Lori! I usually post step by step photos, but I was on a time crunch this time so I didn’t, sorry! Basically, cut the ends off the eggplant and use a vegetable peeler to peel off the skin of the eggplant. Instead of peeling off all the skin, just peel off “sections” so it will look like stripes. I hope that makes more sense!