May 12, 2010

Sausage & Eggplant Pasta

"For-a-Crowd" Recipes, cheese, eggplant, Italian, main dish, One-Dish Dinners, pasta, sausage

Presented by

23 ratings

Prep time: 34 minutes
baking time 18 minutes
Servings: 6 to 8
Partner: Crusty Italian Bread

I always wanted to be first to claim the crispy, baked pieces of pasta on top.

Ingredients

8 ounces wide egg noodles
1 (8-ounce) eggplant
8 ounces sweet Italian sausage links
1 cup chopped tomato
1/2 cup olive oil vinaigrette salad dressing
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1

Cook the noodles using package directions; drain well.
2

Cut the eggplant lengthwise into quarters. Cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Cut the sausage into 1/2-inch-thick slices.
3

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
4

Place sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the sausage, stirring frequently, until browned, about 6 minutes.
5

Add eggplant, tomato and salad dressing to the skillet. Cook, stirring frequently, until eggplant is tender, about 6 minutes.
6

Add noodles, parsley and black pepper to sausage mixture in skillet and mix gently. Spoon into a 2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with mozzarella. Bake until cheese is melted, about 18 minutes. Serve immediately.

Grandma's Secret Trick

Eggplant was a regular in my family's garden, so we could count on having tender, young eggplant. If an eggplant seemed too large (which meant it was bitter), Grandma cut the eggplant as directed in the recipe, placed it in a colander, salted it generously and let it stand for 30 minutes. Then she rinsed each piece thoroughly and patted it dry before proceeding with the recipe.