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Tyler Florence

Baked Rigatoni with Eggplant and Sausage


Baked Rigatoni with Eggplant and Sausage

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

  • Kosher Salt
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 6 links fennel pork sausage (about 3/4 pounds)
  • 1 large Eggplant (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 large Onion chopped
  • 3 Cloves Garlic chopped
  • 1 can peeled whole Tomato (28 ounces)
  • 1 bunch Basil leaves only
  • 1 lb rigatoni
  • 1 lb fresh Mozzarella
  • freshly ground Black pepper
  • 1 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano

Method

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
No Rating

Recipe Rating

4
Preparation Time: 20M
Cooking Time: 55M

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What do you think?

  • ricardo
    January 2010

    hola tyler me gusta mucho tu programa el jueves 14 de enero de 2010 vi tu programa y me gustaria que de favor me mandaras las recetas de ese programa donde hicistes el rigatone y el el postre todo completo te veo desde guadalajara jalisco mexico mi correo es rycharin@hotmail.com gracias e antemano

  • Kathy Bernal
    January 2009

    We enjoyed this dish on December 26th am planning to make it myself for Super Bowl Sunday 2/1/09

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