EGGPLANT BOATS STUFFED WITH SPAGHETTI

Eggplant stuffed with spaghetti with tomato sauce and eggplant flavored with basil and salted ricotta! Here is an easy, very simple and scenic recipe with pasta in eggplant boats! Mediterranean flavors and aromas reminiscent of the much-loved Sicilian pasta alla Norma that in its simplicity has conquered millions of palates all over the world! A really tasty and flavorful first course. It is prepared in a short time and the eggplant does not need any cooking before.

Eggplants stuffed with pasta are prepared quickly. You can also make them in advance and eat them after having lightly heated them in the oven or in a non-stick pan. I tried this recipe for the first time last year just before moving to Saint Constant, I also took photographs but lost the leaflet where I had written down all the ingredients and especially the doses. You know, you have to learn from mistakes. Today, in fact, I write everything in a notebook that I always carry with me. It's big and doesn't get lost easily and then if I don't find it anymore there's only one place to look.

In the kitchen!

Ingredients

2 large Eggplants 

300 g Spaghetti

700 ml Tomato puree

4 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil

1 clove Garlic

salt and pepper to taste

1 bunch of Basil

Salted ricotta to taste

Preparation

Use large eggplants of 18/20 cm in order to serve half per person. If you do not find them or do not like them, take 4 medium eggplants and in this case you will need two halves each. Wash the eggplants, then cut them in half, leaving the petiole attached. Cut the pulp with a pointed knife, two or three incisions will suffice, then salt slightly, drizzle with a little oil and place them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake in a hot oven at 200 °C for about 20/25 minutes. The eggplants will be ready when the surface is golden and you will be able to pierce the pulp with a fork. Remove the eggplants from the oven, then dig them out with a spoon and keep the pulp aside. Bake the eggplant boats dug for another 5 minutes, take them out of the oven and keep them aside. Prepare a simple basil emulsion by quickly blending 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil with about ten basil leaves. Set aside.

Prepare a simple tomato sauce.

In a pan put two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and the whole garlic clove. Sauté for a minute, then pour the tomato puree. Season with salt and pepper, if necessary, also a little' sugar and finally add a little' chopped basil. Blend the pulp of the eggplants with a little' tomato sauce and add it to the rest of the sauce. Cook the spaghetti in plenty of lightly salted water, then drain and season with most of the sauce prepared before. Leave some to serve on the pasta. Place the spaghetti in the eggplant boats, cover with a little sauce, season with the basil emulsion and finish with grated salted ricotta with the wide holes of a grater. Finally, serve the eggplants stuffed with spaghetti, a boat or two each depending on the size of the eggplant.