Bucatini with Mozzarella and Aubergine

From The Silver Spoon: Pasta, Phaidon, 2009.

I found some bucatini in the supermarket so thought I’d like to try it out.

An aubergine was cut into slices and then cross cut into julienne strips. It was placed in a colander and sprinkled with salt. After half an hour I rinsed it and dried it. It was then fried in a little olive oil until it had browned slightly. It was then left while I went ahead with the sauce.

 Four tomatoes were peeled and chopped. The recipe called for them to be seeded but the seeds never worry me so I just ignored this. I also left out the bacon that was included in the recipe. So the tomatoes went into a saucepan with a little olive oil, some chopped chilli and salt and pepper. It was brought to the boil and then turned to a simmer.

A pot full of salted water was put on to boil. When it was ready the bucatini was added and cooked until al dente. At this stage the aubergine went into the tomato sauce and was brought up to simmer again.

The bucatini was drained and added to plates. Chopped mozzarella cheese was stirred into the sauce and the sauce was spooned over the pasta. A chopped boiled egg was sprinkled over the top.

I enjoyed the bucatini. I rather like the hollow straws which take in more of the sauce than solid spaghetti does. The sauce was flavoursome, the aubergine by now having disintegrated into the tomato mixture. And there was the added joy of pieces of stringy mozzarella being met on some mouthfuls.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔