This is a dish I’ve had many times in Italy on the Amalfi coast. It’s one of those dishes that tastes like home—it’s comfort food, and it makes you feel good. The interesting thing about it is that the cow’s-milk mozzarella is torn up and thrown in at the last minute, so that when you dig your spoon in you get melted, stringy bits of it, making it a real joy to eat. You can eat this as soon as it’s made, or you can put it all into a baking pan with a little cheese grated on top and reheat it as a baked pasta dish the next day, if you wish.–Jamie Oliver
LC Just One Pot (Sorta) Note
First, we just want to call a little attention to the last line of the headnote above, which is brilliant for it’s ability to turn this simple one-pot supper into a make-ahead casserole. Second, we love that this jumble of pasta and tomatoes and ooey gooey cheese comes together in just 35 minutes and, as we just said, in a single pot. (Actually, if you do the math, it’s two pots. One big pot for the pasta, one ginormous saucepan for the sauce. Then when the time comes, we can add the pasta to the sauce and toss with wild abandon, which means the pot used to cook the pasta almost sorta fades into the background, it’s so easy to clean. Right? Right??!!)
Rigatoni with Sweet Tomatoes, Eggplant, and Mozzarella Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 firm ripe pink, black, or white eggplant
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
- 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
- Two 14-ounce cans good-quality plum tomatoes (or substitute chopped homegrown tomatoes and their juices)
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 to 2 fresh or dried chiles, chopped or crumbled (optional)
- 1 small bunch basil, leaves ripped, sprigs sliced
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 pound rigatoni or penne
- 7 ounces cow’s-milk mozzarella
- 1 piece Parmesan cheese, for grating
Directions
- 1. Trim both ends of the eggplant and slice the eggplant into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Chop the slices into 1/2-inch dice. (Some people prefer to season their eggplant with salt and let it sit for a while in a colander to draw out the bitterness, but I don’t really do this unless I’m dealing with a seedy, bitter eggplant. This dish is really best made using a firm, silky one.)
- 2. Place a large saucepan over medium heat and drizzle in 4 to 5 tablespoons olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the eggplant and as soon as it hits the pan stir with a spoon so the pieces become delicately coated with the oil on all sides and not soaked on just a single side. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 7 or 8 minutes.
- 3. Add the garlic and onion and cook, still stirring occasionally, until they take on a little color. Add the tomatoes and vinegar, stir them around, and season with salt and pepper. At this point, if you want to give the dish a little heat you could add some chopped fresh or crumbled dried chille, but that’s up to you. Add the basil sprigs and simmer the sauce nice and gently for about 15 minutes. By this time the eggplant will have cooked into a creamy, tomatoe-y pulp, which is just yum yum yum! If desired, fish out the basil sprigs. Stir in the cream.
- 4. Meanwhile, while the sauce is simmering, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package instructions, or until it’s soft but still holding its shape. Drain the pasta, saving a little of the cooking water. I like to put the pasta back into the pot it was cooked in with a tiny bit of the cooking water and a drizzle olive oil and move it around so it becomes sorta dressed with the water and oil.
- 5. At this point, add the lovely tomato sauce to the pasta and season with salt and pepper to taste. When all my guests are sitting round the table, I take the pan to the table, tear up the mozzarella and the basil leaves, and gently fold these, tossing and stirring things about for 30 seconds. Then I very quickly heap out portions into bowls. By the time your guests start to eat, the mozzarella will have begun to melt, so it will be stringy and gorgeous and really milky-tasting and just lovely with the tomatoes and eggplant. Set out a block of Parmesan cheese and a grater so that everyone can help themselves.
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I love this recipe, have prepared it many times the gooey mozzarella just makes this dish! Thanks
Hi, Gudbjorg. It’s a homey, stick-to-your-ribs dish isn’t it? Jamie Oliver does comfort food very well. Glad you enjoy it.
Here’s our interpretation.
Great work, Jeff.
This was fantastic! A great use for summer tomatoes, eggplant, and basil from the garden. It was simply and tasted fabulous. Thanks, Jamie!
Couldn’t agree with you more, Stacy G. Many thanks for letting us know!
“kinda” ? “sorta”? are those words? is so, in just what language?
LC-speak, for starters, k. francis. Which is a language supported by Merriam-Webster, which recognizes both these words, just like our everyday conversations. Sorry if that seems too informal and chatty to you, just trying to write how we talk, which is not at all hoity-toity but just, you know, like most folks.
This has become one of my favorite recipes. Thank you so much for posting!
You bet, Marisa!
Yummy! added an oz of white wine and used milk and butter in place of the heavy cream. Nice to have a meatless meal.
Lovely to hear, Jay!