Ravioli With Roasted Eggplant Tomatoes And Capers Recipes

PASTA WITH ROASTED TOMATOES AND CAPERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss tomatoes, capers, and oregano with oil and season with salt. Roast until tomatoes burst and begin to brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water, then drain.
• Return pasta and 1/4 cup pasta water to pot and add tomato mixture. Cook over high until sauce is slightly thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. If necessary, add remaining pasta water to create a light sauce that coats pasta. Serve sprinkled with oregano.

ROASTED EGGPLANT AND TOMATOES

Steps:

• Preheat broiler, with rack in top third of oven. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Use a fork to prick eggplants all over; prick tomatoes in a few places. Place both vegetables on prepared sheet and broil, turning occasionally, until charred all over and very soft, 15 to 20 minutes for tomatoes and slim eggplants, up to 40 minutes for larger eggplants. Remove as done and place in a sieve set over a bowl; let cool.
• When cool enough to handle, peel eggplants and tomatoes. Remove and chop pulp finely; place in a bowl. Add chiles, shallot, mint, cilantro, lime juice, and 2 teaspoons mustard oil; season with salt and pepper. Mix and taste for balance of seasonings, adjusting as necessary. Refrigerate until ready to serve, or up to 2 days.
• Put chokah in a serving bowl; drizzle remaining 1 teaspoon mustard oil over top. Serve cold or room temperature.

RAVIOLI WITH ROASTED EGGPLANT, TOMATOES, AND CAPERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F. Peel eggplant in 1-inch stripes, leaving some skin on. Quarter lengthwise and slice into 1-inch pieces. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss eggplant, tomatoes, and shallot with oil; season with salt and pepper. Roast, stirring once, until tomatoes burst and eggplant is caramelized and tender, 35 to 40 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook ravioli in a pot of salted water according to package instructions. Reserve 1 cup pasta water, then drain. Return ravioli to pot along with eggplant mixture, capers, and enough reserved pasta water to create a silky sauce. Toss with cheese and basil. Serve, topped with more cheese and basil.

RAVIOLI WITH RICOTTA, ROASTED EGGPLANT AND BROWN BUTTER SAGE SAUCE

Steps:

• Mix all pasta dough ingredients in a food processor and process to combine. Then knead onto a floured work surface, until smooth (3-5 minutes), wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oil in a pan and cook the roasted eggplant (2-3 minutes), already cut in small pieces. Season with salt and pepper and add the crushed garlic clove and cook for 1 minute more. Then add ricotta cheese and combine well. Set aside. Divide dough into two. Work with one piece at a time and flatten your dough through pasta machine rollers, starting at the widest setting. Lightly flour the pasta sheets as you fold and flatten it through machine, reducing settings notch by notch until you reach the narrowest setting. For best results, feed it through 2 times at the narrowest setting. You need a thin pasta sheet. Place 1 teaspoon of filling at 2cm intervals along half the pasta sheets. Brush the edges with egg-wash and then top with the other pasta sheet. Press gently the edges to seal. Cut ravioli in squares (or in rounds with a cookie cutter) with a pastry wheel, and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cook ravioli in a large saucepan filled with boiling salted water, until al dente (3-4 minutes). Meantime, brown the salted butter in a pan (1-2 minutes) and then add the sage leaves. Cook 1 minute more. Drain the pasta, add them to pan and toss to combine. Serve hot with parmeggiano and basil.

PASTA WITH EGGPLANT, CAPERS, AND OLIVES

Steps:

• Toss eggplant with salt in a colander set in a large bowl, then let drain, tossing occasionally, 1 hour.
• While eggplant drains, rinse capers in a sieve and transfer to a small bowl. Cover capers with water by 2 inches and soak 30 minutes. Drain, then repeat soaking. Drain and rinse capers, then squeeze dry and coarsely chop.
• Roast bell pepper on rack of a gas burner over moderately high heat, turning with tongs, until skin is blackened, about 5 minutes. (Or broil pepper on a broiler pan about 5 inches from heat, turning occasionally, about 15 minutes.) Transfer to a bowl, then cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let pepper steam 10 minutes.
• When cool enough to handle, peel pepper and discard seeds, stem, and ribs. Pat pepper dry and purée in a blender until smooth.
• Rinse eggplant and pat dry thoroughly. Heat vegetable oil in a 4-quart pot over high heat until it registers 375°F on thermometer. Fry one third of eggplant, stirring gently, until just golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Fry remaining eggplant in 2 batches, returning oil to 375°F between batches.
• Pulse together olives, basil, mint, parsley, marjoram, and 2 garlic cloves in a food processor until finely chopped.
• Finely chop remaining garlic clove and cook in olive oil along with anchovy in a 5-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until anchovy dissolves and garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Increase heat to moderate and stir in pepper purée, then cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in olive mixture, capers, and wine and cook, stirring, until wine is evaporated, about 1 minute. Stir in eggplant (sauce will be very thick) and remove from heat. Keep warm, covered.
• Cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente, then drain and stir into sauce. Season with salt.
• *Available at specialty foods shops and chefshop.com.