Rigatoni Alla Mondello (Eggplant, Zucchini and Basil)

Eggplants are beginning to be ready in Greenhouse #1.This is exciting because we have been trying to grow eggplant with little success for a number of years. Although we have small purple eggplants of the traditional variety, the fruit my husband brought in was light green, with a wide round base, giving the appearance of a very large round green pear. It was not sufficient to make a dish of eggplant parmesan, which is our favourite, so I found this recipe with eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini and fresh basil. It is adapted from a recipe on the Rigatoni box. (De Cecco Brand). It is definitely a hit for our first eggplant of the season.

Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients for sauce
Medium size eggplant and medium size zucchini or whatever size you have available. One medium or two small onions. The recipe calls for 2 cups fresh tomatoes pureed in food processor, but fresh tomatoes are not that plentiful yet. I substituted one 28 oz. can diced tomatoes, also pureed. 1 cup fresh basil, virgin olive oil, 1-2 tbsp curry, pepper and salt to taste. Fresh grated Parmesan Cheese, if available.

Directions
Cook, rinse and drain rigatoni. Set aside. Wash and dice eggplant into 3/4in. cubes or thereabouts. Same for zucchini. Sauté zucchini in skillet in olive oil. Drain on paper towel. Repeat for eggplant, also draining on a paper towel. In large, heavy bottomed sauce pan, sauté onions in olive oil until transparent. You may want to add fresh garlic here. The recipe didn’t suggest it. Add tomatoes to onion pot and simmer covered for 10 minutes. Add Curry. Add sautéed eggplant, zucchini finely chopped basil. Mix well, over high heat for a few minutes. At this point, because I didn’t know when my family would be finished with the farm work, so they could come to dinner, I made a decision not to add sauce to rigatoni. Instead, I put the sauce in a covered casserole dish and placed it in the oven on low heat. Around 250F - 300F. An hour later, when they arrived, I put the sauce on the table in the oven dish along side the rigatoni in a separate dish, after warming with hot water and drained. Fresh grated Parmesan Cheese for the rigatoni and/ or the green salad, along with a Baguette from Georgetown bakery made this a meal fit for tired, hungry farm workers.