Eggplant or aubergine is a actually a berry by botanical definition and is related to the potato and tomato, Things I never knew about eggplant as well as that there is a white variety, which is lighter in taste than the more popular version. Culinarily, eggplant is used in many variety of dishes and in several types of cuisines and one reason is its ability to absorb oils and flavours. It can be a love it or hate it relationship for many but when properly prepared there is not other. Today we roasted both the traditional eggplant and the white eggplant to bring out a bit of a smoky flavour and we pared it with crispy garlic and tahini, a match made in heaven.
INGREDIENTES / INGREDIENTS
500 g Rigatoni or preferred pasta
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon of fresh dill chopped
1 tablespoon of fresh mint leaves chopped
Roasted Eggplant
2 small purple eggplant cut into cubes
1 small whit eggplant cut into cubes
1/2 cup extra virgen olive oil
salt
Crispy garlic
6 cloves of garlic thinly sliced, we used a handheld mandolin
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Sauce
2 generous tablespoon of tahini
1/2 lemon of zest
juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of agave syrup
4 tablespoons of olive oil including the left over olive oil from crispy garlic
PREPARACION / PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 200 Celsius. Add chopped eggplant to baking sheet and toss with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake until soft and a bit crispy on the edges, around 20 minutes.
Cook pasta according to package instructions.
In a medium sauté pan, heat up olive oil on medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook until lightly golden brown and crispy. You need to pay attention as it dose not take long to go from golden to burnt.
In a medium bowl add tahini, warmed a bit in the microwave, left over oil from garlic, and additional olive oil, lemon zest, soy sauce and mix well. Just before serving stir in lemon juice.
Drain the pasta and add back to the pot, drizzle over the sauce and stir, add half the crispy garlic and mix.
Divide the pasta and sprinkle over parmesan cheese, remaining crispy garlic, mint and dill leaves.
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