You don’t find pasta salads in Italy, but in very hot weather, room temperature or cooled-down pasta with vegetables can be quite delicious, prepared in advance for a casual picnic or supper. Here, the quantity of juicy ripe tomato and eggplant makes this pasta dish more like a vegetable salad.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ripe tomatoes, cut in wedges
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 2 or 3 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ teaspoon peperoncino (hot red pepper flakes)
- 2 teaspoons capers, rinsed and roughly chopped
- 2 medium eggplants, about 1 pound
- 12 ounces ziti or other short pasta
- ¼ pound ricotta salata or mild feta, at room temperature
- 1 small bunch basil, for garnish
- Nutritional Information
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
498 calories; 12 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 81 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams dietary fiber; 12 grams sugars; 17 grams protein; 14 milligrams cholesterol; 299 milligrams sodium
Note: Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available data.
4 to 6 servings
Preparation
- Heat broiler. Put tomato wedges in a shallow baking dish in one layer. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Broil tomatoes about 2 inches from heat until softened and lightly charred, 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside until cool, and then add garlic, peperoncino and capers. Stir gently to distribute.
- Slice eggplant into long strips about 1/4-inch thick. Paint both sides of eggplant strips with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook eggplant strips on a stovetop grill, in a cast-iron pan or over hot coals, about two minutes per side. Cut into 1-inch pieces. Set aside.
- Boil the pasta in abundantly salted water until al dente, then drain and rinse briefly. Blot dry and put in a wide serving bowl. Add tomato mixture and eggplant. Toss gently to distribute. Taste for salt and hot pepper and adjust.
- Crumble cheese over top. Drizzle with a little more oil and garnish with torn basil leaves.
45 minutes
Dining and Cooking