Ziti And Eggplant Recipes

EGGPLANT-ZITI PARMESAN

Steps:

• Place the eggplant slices in a bowl, and sprinkle with salt. Let drain over a bowl in the refrigerator for at least an hour. I like to do this overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook for about 6 minutes, or until almost tender. It will cook the rest of the way in the oven. Drain. Mix together the ricotta cheese and eggs in a small bowl. Stir in half of the mozzarella cheese and Pecorino Romano cheese.
• Spread a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange layers of eggplant, cheese, ziti pasta, and more sauce all the way to the top of the pan. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese.
• Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until heated through and cheese is lightly browned.

ZITI AND EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook the eggplant about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, basil, pepper, and sugar. Simmer, stirring occasionally, 45 minutes. Mix the roasted red peppers into the skillet with the eggplant mixture. Continue cooking until eggplant is the consistency of the rest of the sauce.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place ziti pasta in the pot, cook 9 to 11 minutes, until al dente, and drain. Serve the eggplant and tomato sauce over the cooked ziti.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Open pitas and evenly spread insides with butter. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and season with paprika, salt and pepper. I like to make a light sprinkling of paprika across each piece. Heat pitas in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Use to scoop up eggplant sauce, or eat separately.

BAKED ZITI WITH EGGPLANT AND RICOTTA CHEESE

Steps:

• Place eggplant cubes in colander, sprinkle generously with salt. Let stand for 30 minutes. Rinse and drain thoroughly.
• Cook ziti in large amounts of boiling salted water until tender; drain. Add butter and toss to coat.
• In large skillet, cook eggplant, onion and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in tomatoes and tomato paste, 1/2 tsp salt, basil, oregano and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in parmesan cheese.
• In small bowl, blend ricotta cheese, egg and remaining 1/2 tsp salt.
• In shallow three quart (3mL) casserole, layer half each: cooked pasta, tomato mixture, ricotta cheese mixture and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layering with remaining ingredients. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until cheese melts.

EGGPLANT (AUBERGINE) AND ZITI PARMESAN

Steps:

• Sprinkle the eggplant with salt. Place the eggplant in a colander, and let it drain for 30 minutes.
• Rinse the eggplant, and pat it dry.
• Cook the ziti al dente according to the package directions.
• Drain and rinse the pasta, and set it aside. Combine the oil and garlic, and smear it on the eggplant slices.
• Then sprinkle the slices generously with pepper.
• Broil the eggplant slices about 4 inches from the heat, turning them once, for a total of about 5 minutes.
• (You may have to do this in 2 batches.) In a large bowl, combine the ricotta or cottage cheese, all but 2 tablespoons of the parmesan, the parsley, basil, oregano, and pepper flakes.
• Toss the cheese mixture with the ziti.
• On the bottom of a 2-= to 3 quart casserole, spread a thin layer of tomato sauce, add half the ziti mixture, then half the eggplant slices, then half the remaining tomato sauce. Repeat the ziti, eggplant, and sauce layers.
• Top with the reserved 2 tablespoons of parmesan.
• Cover the casserole, and bake it in a preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.
• Remove the cover, and bake the casserole for another 15 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.
• .

BAKED ZITI WITH ROASTED EGGPLANT AND BASIL

Steps:

• For the Roasted Eggplant: Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
• Place the eggplant cubes on the baking sheet. Drizzle it with olive oil and sprinkle it with salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes (if using). Give it a toss and make sure that the eggplant is distributed evenly on the baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 30-35 minutes. Be sure to give it a gently toss halfway through the roasting process for even roasting. Set aside to cool.
• Do not turn the oven off.
• For the Pasta: 10-15 minutes before the eggplant is ready, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and ziti. Cook until it is al dente, 8-9 minutes. Drain the pasta, place it in a large bowl. Stir in the tomato-basil sauce.
• Mix together the ricotta and chopped basil in a bowl and set aside.
• To assemble: Spray a large (mine was 9X13) oven-proof casserole dish with vegetable spray, making sure that the sides of the dish is coated with the oil.Place half of the ziti at the bottom of the casserole dish. Spread half of the eggplant cubes evenly on top. Dollop with half of the ricotta-basil mixture and sprinkle with half of the mozzarella.
• Repeat the same steps for the second layer: Spread the rest of the ziti and roasted eggplant evenly as a second layer. Dollop with the rest of the ricotta-basil mixture and sprinkle the top with the rest of the mozzarella cheese.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese on top is browned.
• When ready to serve, sprinkle it with fresh basil leaves. Serve immediately.

BAKED ZITI WITH ROASTED EGGPLANT AND RICOTTA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Line a sheet tray with foil then brush the foil generously with olive oil.
• Brush a 9X13 inch casserole dish bottom and sides with olive oil and set aside.
• If using Japanese eggplant, trim ends, leave skin on then cut into one-inch chunks and place into a bowl. If using regular eggplant, trim and peel and then cut into chunks. (Try to avoid cooking a really large regular eggplant as they will require salting the cubes and sitting for an hour to remove bitterness.)
• Add ½ cup of the olive oil, 1 teaspoon of the salt and a half teaspoon of pepper to the bowl with the eggplant and toss to coat. Pour out onto the prepared sheet tray and bake for 30 minutes, tossing them with a spatula half way through.
• Bring a pot of water to a boil.
• While eggplant is cooking, in a large skillet, add remaining olive oil and over medium heat, add onions, garlic and the pepper flakes and cook for three minutes.
• Add the cut-up tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of the basil, the mint, parsley, sugar, remaining salt, remaining pepper and bring to a slow simmer and cook until the pasta is ready on the next step.
• Add salt to the boiling water and add the ziti and cook short of fully cooked. The pasta needs to be a little chewy as it will cook further in the oven. Save three cups of the pasta water and drain the ziti.
• Place the drained ziti back in the pan and hold.
• Thin the sauce down with a cup or more of the pasta water, taste and add more salt and pepper as needed, then pour over the cooked ziti and stir. Add more pasta water as needed to thin down if too thick.
• Stir in all of the ricotta cheese and the remaining 4 tablespoons of the fresh basil.
• Remove the roasted eggplant from the oven and add to the pasta and sauce and gently stir.
• Pour this mixture into the prepared casserole dish.
• Top with the shredded provolone and Parmesan cheese and bake for 30 minutes. The top should get browned and crusty and the center soft and creamy with the pasta perfectly cooked.
• Serve immediately.

BAKED ZITI WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 by 13-inch casserole dish.
• In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1/4 cup of the oil.
• Add the eggplant in batches, seasoning on both sides with salt and pepper, and cook until golden, adding more oil as needed.
• Transfer to a plate when each batch is done.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the remaining olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot but not smoking, add the onion and sausage.
• Cook, stirring until the sausage is browned and the onion is soft about 6 minutes.
• Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, until it begins to brown.
• Add the tomatoes, their juices, the Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon of salt, and the crushed red pepper.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low and gently simmer, uncovered, until the flavors marry and the sauce slightly thickens, about 20 minutes.
• Remove from the heat. Add the basil and adjust seasoning, to taste.
• Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and forms a light roux, about 2 minutes.
• Whisk in the milk and, whisking frequently, cook until the sauce is thickened and smooth, about 4 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and season with the nutmeg and salt and pepper, to taste.
• Arrange half of the eggplant slices on the bottom of the casserole, overlapping as necessary.
• Top with half of the cooked pasta; then half of the sausage-tomato sauce.
• Place another layer of eggplant slices on top of the sauce.
• Then layers of pasta and sausage-tomato sauce.
• Pour on the white sauce.
• Then top with the grated mozzarella and Parmesan.
• Bake for 35 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown on top.