Rigatoni with Aubergines and Mozzarella

Yummy! This is the word that best describes this dish. Combine satisfying rigatoni, a smooth tomato sauce, succulent melted mozzarella, tasty fried aubergines and perfumed basil leaves and top with a crispy crust.

You can prepare this dish in advance and just put it in the oven for 15-20 mins before serving. Rigatoni are the perfect type of pasta for this preparation because they will keep their consistency even in double-cooking.

Serve along with a flavourful red wine.

Rigatoni with Aubergines and Mozzarella

Ingredients for 4:

400 gr of rigatoni pasta
2 medium aubergines
2 mozzarella cheese (2x125 gr)
1 can of tomato puree
150 ml of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
a bunch of fresh basil
salt
a pinch of ground black pepper

How to prepare:

Wash and slice the aubergines (1 cm thick). Sprinkle the slices with some salt, put them in a bowl and set them aside for 1 hour so that they will lose the water.

In a saucepan brown the peeled garlic cloves with 2 tbsp of olive oil at low heat. After a couple of minutes add the tomato puree, 50 ml of water and a few leaves of basil. Season with salt and pepper, cover with a lid and cook it at low heat for 15 mins stirring form time to time.

Wash the slices of aubergine and dry them with a cloth. In a large pan heat half of the olive oil. Then start to fry the aubergines. Put a few slices in the pan and fry for around 2 mins on each side (until they will be golden). When the aubergines are fried take them from the pan and dry them on kitchen paper. Proceed like this until you fry all the aubergines. When needed add more olive oil in the pan.

Put a large pot full of water on the stove at maximum heat. When the water in boiling add 2 tbsp of salt and the pasta. Cook the pasta for the recommended time. Then drain and dress with the tomato sauce.

Slice the mozzarella (1 cm thick).

In a large oven dish put half of the pasta and cover with half of the mozzarella and aubergine slices. Then put the remaining pasta and top with the remaining mozzarella and aubergine slices, with the mozzarella on the top. Finally, put the rigatoni in the oven at 220 degrees for 15-20 mins.

Take out from the oven, decorate with some leaves of fresh basil and serve.