TIP: Orecchiette pasta is a wonderful pasta that you should stock up on whenever you get the chance. Each piece of pasta looks like a little bowl which is perfect for a runny sauce or to hold a small morsel of something delicious.
TIP: The most important ingredient when making pasta with a sauce is free and already available. The water that you boiled the pasta in is the perfect glue to keep your sauce on the pasta. Depending on how much pasta you are making save 1-2 cups of the pasta water and add it to your sauce while it is simmering down. The starch in the water from the pasta will help make the sauce adhere to the noodle.
Ingredients:
Olive Oil
1 box orecchiette pasta
1 medium yellow or sweet onion
1 medium firm eggplant
6-8 vine ripe tomatoes
goat cheese
fresh basil (optional but encouraged)
salt and pepper
Serves: 4-6
Time: 45 minutes
Skill Level: Beginner
1. Start boiling the water for your pasta. Depending on your stove top this could take awhile and boiling water won't burn so it is fine if you let it boil for a while while you chop.
2. I recommend chopping everything before you turn on the heat. Though this recipe is very forgiving it is always best to be prepared. I absolutely love how rustic this pasta is so I don't worry much about extremely even chopping and precise methods.
For the onion: Cut your onion in half (top to hairy bottom) and peel off the outer one or two layers so the papery shell is gone leaving the juicy meat of the onion. Chop off the top and bottom bits leaving you with two pretty white half globes. This next part really depends on you. I happen to love onion and like my strips big and chunky. If you think you would enjoy that too cut your onion into 8 chunks that look like thick crescent moons. If you prefer smaller onion pieces feel free to dice the onion or just cut it to whatever manageable size you see fit- again this is rustic, it will be delicious any way you do it. Try to make the pieces as even as possible for cooking purposes. Set aside your onion bits in a bowl.
The eggplant should be next. When choosing an eggplant make sure it is firm to the touch and heavier than it looks like it would feel. I don't mind the skin on the eggplant but if you are opposed to it for some reason feel free to peel it off. Cube your eggplant into 1 inch cubes and try to make the pieces as uniform in size as possible. I realize this will be near impossible given the natural shape of the eggplant but just give it a try.
Chopping tomatoes can be a tricky business. If you were to use a tomato for tomato sauce then I would advise removing the skin and the seeds but this is more of an all in the pot situation and I was lazy so the skins got to stay. First cut the tomato in half and remove the light brown patch at the top where the tomato met with the vine. After that it really does not matter what size or shape you chop your tomato since it will mostly cook down anyway.
3. Heat about 2 tbs olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the onion. Stir every so often so the onions start to get soft and translucent about 8-10 minutes. If your onions start to burn turn down the heat.
4. Hopefully your water will be boiling at this point and you can cook your pasta. This may be the most important aspect to the entire recipe make sure to SALT YOUR PASTA WATER!!! This alone will make or break your pasta dish. Don't be scared and dump in at least 2 tbs of salt into your water. It makes all the difference. Cook the pasta in the boiling water according to the pasta's package directions. It should take 8-10 minutes. When you are approaching that time sample a piece of pasta to check if it is done. It should still hold its shape and should be a bit firm which you bite in- not crunchy or hard- but firm. If it is overly soggy and mooshy it is ok and you will know for next time to cut back on your cook time.
When the pasta is done reserve 1 cup of the pasta water and strain your pasta. It will heat back up in the skillet again so don't worry if it gets too cold.
5. Next comes the eggplant which will be like the meat of this pasta. Eggplant in general loves to soak up liquid so you will need a fair amount of olive oil to coat the eggplant so it will not burn. Add the eggplant to the skillet with another two table spoons of olive oil. If you feel like you need more then by all means go for it. The eggplant will start to absorb the oil and shrink with the heat. After 2 or 3 minutes of heat add the tomatoes and let it simmer for a while. The juice in the tomatoes will go right into the eggplant and become more flavorful. At this point add about half of your reserved pasta water to create the flavorful sauce. If the eggplant soaks that up, add more water. If the sauce looks too runny let it simmer down a little. In general allow the veggies to cook another 10 minutes adding the pasta water when needed to create a sauce.
6. Add your pasta to the veggies and let it heat up with the sauce to soak in the flavor for 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. When you are happy with your pasta serve it in a bowl and add a little goat cheese to make it creamy and give the pasta a zing. If you have fresh basil on hand feel free to chop it up and add it to the top.
Enjoy!
If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask! I would be happy to help.
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