Living in the Garden State certainly has its perks, especially in the summer. We have beaches, plenty of fun outdoor things to do, and incredibly glorious produce! Tomatoes here are at their peak, and so is eggplant. So when I got an abundance of them in my latest CSA pickup, I put them all in this wonderful and simple pasta dish. All of the ingredients really sing here because there aren’t too many and it’s all seasonal.
I loved how this dish was hearty and satisfying while still being light and summer friendly! It also yielded a lot since Marc and I both love our leftovers. I hope you all love this recipe too!! xoxo
This is such a simple, wonderful and flavorful pasta dish loaded with leaner chicken sausage, fresh tomatoes, eggplant in a light sauce.
- 1 dash olive oil
- 1 pound chicken sausage casings removed
- 4 small eggplants diced small
- 3 large tomatoes diced small
- 6 cloves roasted garlic mashed *make ahead of time, see note
- 2 pinches salt
- 2 pinches crushed red pepper
- 1 pound farfalle pasta
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
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Get out a large pot and heat the olive oil in it over medium high heat. Brown the sausage in it as you break it up with a spoon. Once it is completely browned, remove it to a plate. Add in the eggplant and tomatoes. Let them soften and get fragrant for a few minutes. The tomatoes should start to let out their juices and start to form the base of a sauce. Add in the roasted garlic, and the browned chicken sausage. Season the mixture generously with salt and crushed red pepper to taste. Stir it all well, then let it simmer on medium low for an hour.
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When the hour is just about up, get a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Salt it until it tastes like the sea, then cook the farfalle in it until tender. It should take about 8 minutes. Before you drain it, scoop 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water and pour it into the pot of sauce, along with the parmesan. This will emulsify the sauce into pure gorgeousness. Finally, drain the pasta and stir it into the sauce. Scoop it into pretty bowls and serve immediately!
*to roast garlic, pre-heat the oven to 400. Remove the outer paper layers of a head of garlic and cut the top tip off to reveal the cloves inside. Dizzle the top with a little olive oil, then wrap it in foil and roast it in the oven for an hour. Perfection, it has so many uses! It can be stored in the refrigerator for weeks, I made it a couple of days prior to Thanksgiving cooking and used it in all of my recipes.
