RIGATONI WITH EGGPLANT AND MOZZARELLA RECIPES

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat for the pasta. Get yourself a 9 by 13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish.
• Heat a 2 count of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausages and toss in the hot oil for 3 to 4 minutes, you want them nicely browned on the outside but still rare on the inside. Put the sausages in the baking dish.
• Turn the heat down to medium. Add a generous 1/3 cup of oil to the skillet and get it hot. Add as many eggplant pieces as you can comfortably fit in a single layer and sprinkle well with salt. Cook, turning, for 7 to 8 minutes, until the eggplant is nice and browned, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Use a spatula to put the eggplant into the baking dish with the sausage. Cook the rest of the eggplant pieces, adding more oil to the pan, as needed, and putting the finished eggplant into the baking dish.
• Add another 2 count of oil to the skillet, then your onion and garlic, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until translucent. Dump the whole can of tomatoes and their juices into a bowl and crush the tomatoes with your hands to break them up; add that to the pan with the basil and cook it down until pulpy and relatively thick. This will take about 15 minutes.
• By this time your pasta water will be boiling. Add the rigatoni, give it a stir, and cook for 6 to 7 minutes, it should be slightly firm as it will cook further in the oven. Ladle out 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water and reserve; the drain the rigatoni.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Chop the sausages into nice big, bite-size chunky pieces and return the pieces to the baking dish. Add the tomato sauce, rigatoni, and the reserved pasta water. Break up half the mozzarella over the mixture, season with salt and pepper, and gently mix with your hands or a spatula. Dust with the Parmigiano and drizzle with more olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes. Spread the remaining mozzarella in an even layer over the top and continue to bake for another 10 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

Steps:

• To prepare the eggplant parmigiana , start by washing and drying the eggplant 1 . Then with a knife remove the stem 2 and slice the eggplant lengthwise with a vegetable slicer, or alternatively with a knife, to obtain slices about 1/8' (4-5 mm) thick 3 .  
• As you place the slices inside a colander, sprinkle them with a very small amount of coarse salt between the layers, well distributed (you can also use a little fine salt); continue this way until you finish it all 4 . On top of the eggplants, place a plate with a weight on it to let the eggplants purge the excess water and slightly bitter taste, the enemy of fried food. Leave it like this for at least 1 hour. Remember to rinse the slices well under running water, one by one if necessary, to remove the salt and pat them dry before use. In the meantime, slice and cut the fiordilatte cheese into strips, after which you will have very small cubes. If you don't have another colander, you can place them on a very clean cloth 5 . In the meantime, make the sauce. In a large saucepan pour a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and add the chopped onion, stir often so as not to burn it and let it brown for a couple of minutes 6 .  
• Then add the tomato puree 7 and a little water, the salt 8   and let it simmer for 45 minutes. When finished cooking do not forget to add the basil leaves by hand 9 .  
• Heat plenty of vegetable oil and in the meantime rinse the portion of eggplant that you are going to fry 10 and dry it with oil blotting paper: always proceed a little at a time so they do not darken 11 . Fry a few slices at a time 12 in boiling oil at 340° F (170° C).   
• After cooking 2-3 minutes, drain on absorbent paper 13 ; do the same with all the others. At this point you should have everything you need, so move on to putting it together. Cover the bottom of an 8 x 12" (20x30cm) baking dish with a little sauce 14 , then make the first layer by arranging the eggplant slices horizontally 15 .  
• Grate some black pepper, sprinkle with parmesan cheese 16 and pour some cubes of fiordilatte cheese, distributing them evenly 17 . And finally pour on a little more sauce, just enough to color the inside 18 .  
• Repeat the same procedure this time by arranging the eggplant slices on top 19 ; continue this way to make the layers by inverting the direction of the slices each time 20 . Between layers, remember to press gently with the palms of your hands in order to compact them. On the last layer pour the remaining tomato puree 21 ,   
• the cubes of fiordilatte and parmesan cheese 22 . Now it's time to bake your eggplant parmigiana in a hot oven at 400° F (200° C) for 40 minutes 23 . Once ready, let it cool a few minutes before serving 24 .