Bucatini with Roasted Eggplant Sauce

Bucatini with Roasted Eggplant Sauce.  The perfect recipe to end my Italian Summer Food series and segue into savory fall dishes.

Don’t get me wrong I love a good marinara sauce for my pasta but once I tried this Bucatini with Roasted Eggplant Sauce at Il Cantuccio during our visit to Castellina in Chianti this past August I just had to try and recreate it once we got home!  The earthiness of the roasted eggplant with fresh basil and Parmesan is addictive!  I literally found myself finishing my whole plate because every bite was simply delicious.

If Bucatini does not sound like a familiar pasta to you, don’t worry you are not alone!  Think of Bucatini as a thicker version of spaghetti with a hole running through the middle of it.  I used Bucatini in this recipe since it is extremely hard to find Italian Pici (another thick spaghetti version) here in the states.  Pici is the type of pasta used originally in this dish as it originates in Tuscany.  Once you make Bucatini you will never go back to spaghetti, it is thick with a wonderful texture and twirls well on a fork!

OK, enough of the pasta lesson let’s get back to this amazing sauce for the Bucatini.  It is super simple to make and can be on your table in 45 minutes, literally the longest part is the actual roasting of the eggplant itself.  Once the eggplant, tomatoes and garlic is roasted simply transfer to a food processor and blend up the sauce with some reserved pasta cooking water (to thin sauce out) and fresh basil.  You have a super simple sauce to serve on your delicious Bucatini.

Try out this Bucatini with Roasted Eggplant Sauce this weekend for a little taste of Tuscany!

Buon Appetito!

Ingredients:

• 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 pound bucatini pasta
• 1/4 cup basil leaves, plus a couple extra, slivered, for garnish
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

Instructions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a bowl combine the diced eggplant, cherry tomatoes, garlic, 3 tablespoons olive oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

Spread the vegetables out in an even layer on the baking sheet.

Roast in the oven until the vegetables are tender and the eggplant is golden, about 35 minutes.

In a small pan roast the pine nuts over medium heat constantly stirring as to not burn them.  You want to a nice golden hue to the pine nuts once roasted.  Set aside in a small bowl.

While the vegetables are roasting bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat.  Add some sea salt to the water.  Then add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain pasta but reserve a cup of the cooking water to use in the sauce.

Transfer the roasted vegetables to a food processor. Add the basil leaves and additional 3 tablespoons olive oil. Blend until almost smooth.  Add in the reserved pasta water ¼ cup at a time until you reach the desired sauce consistency.  I used the full cup so the sauce was thin enough to coat the pasta and not be too chunky.

Return the pasta to the cooking pot, pour sauce over it and toss so that the pasta is evenly coated.

Transfer pasta and sauce to a serving bowl; garnish with extra basil, pine nuts and parmesan.

Serve and enjoy!

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