I love the youtube channel "Pasta Grannies", where with ever video, a different italian granny shares their own recipe. This recipe is Caterina's recipe for Sicilian Lasagne with aubergine and tomato sauce, I just tweaked it a little.
The name "Lasagne" refers to the flat sheets of pasta and shapes but this long ribbons are also commonly known as "Tagliatelle".
Making home made pasta takes a fair bit of time (and arm muscle!), but once you taste it, you won't regret it!
Ingredients
For the Sauce:
2 small aubergines
olive oil
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
fresh basil leaves
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
pepper
salt
dried oregano or herbes de provence
2 packs of mozzarella
optional: parmesan
For the Pasta Dough:
2 eggs
250g 00 flour
1 tsp of salt
a tiny bit of water
1 tsp of olive oil
Recipe
Start by making the pasta dough: Place the flour onto a large surface and make a large shallow well in its center.
Whisk your eggs with a pinch of salt and place in the well.
Mix them with a fork, gradually adding into the center a little flour at a time until the mixture becomes to hard to mix, then you can use your hands to form a dough.
Need this dough for about 5-10 minutes, until the dough springs back when you prod it.
Place a tea towel over it for an hour for it to rest.
Get on with the sauce: Slice your aubergine in half widthways and then slice lengthwise into slim rectangles. Place into a bowl of salted water for 10 minutes or so.
Meanwhile chop an onion up thinly.
Fry your onion in some olive oil on low heat and then add in your aubergine slices, in sets so as not to crowd the pan and get an even golden brown colour on each one. After a few minutes, flip the slices around and season with salt and pepper. Once they are a coloured on each side, place the aubergines and the onions on a plate. Repeat the process with the remaining aubergine slices.
Fry 2 cloves of minced garlic in a tablespoon of hot oil for 20 seconds before adding in 2 cans of chopped tomatoes and half of a can of water. Season with salt, pepper, dried oregano and fresh basil leaves. Leave to simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on.
Now that the pasta dough is rested, you can divide it into 2 and on a floured surface, roll it out super thinly, so that it's around 2 mm thick.
Roll the flat sheet into a snail and cut the snail into slices of around 3 cm thick.
Unroll the slices into thick long tagliatelle. Sprinkle with flour and reserve in a bowl until you cook it.
You can now add your aubergine slices + 1 pack of cubed mozzarella into the tomato sauce for around 10 minutes.
Cook your pasta in salted boiling water for around 3 mins, or until the pasta floats at the surface of the water.
Serve the pasta with the sauce and cubed fresh mozzarella on the side and of course, plenty of fresh basil!
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