Tomato and aubergine baked pasta
Ingredients
60ml olive oil
2 aubergines (500g), cut into 8 pieces
salt and black pepper
350g cherry tomatoes, half sliced, the rest left whole
400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
20g basil leaves, roughly torn
6 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1 red chilli, roughly chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp caster sugar
100g unsalted butter, cut into 2cm cubes
250g dried fusilloni, or other large pasta
10g parsley, roughly chopped
40g parmesan, finely grated
Method
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Heat the oven to 200C fan. Put the oil in a large ovenproof saute pan for which you have a lid, then lay in the aubergines, a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper. Toss to combine, then arrange the aubergines skin side down in the pan. Roast for 30 minutes, until nicely golden and starting to catch in places.
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Add the remaining ingredients apart from the parsley and parmesan to the pan, then add 400ml just-boiled water and stir in a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper. Don’t worry if all the pasta is not completely covered with liquid at this stage. Cover and bake for another 30 minutes, until the tomatoes have cooked down and the pasta is tender.
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After the pasta has been in the oven for 30 minutes, give everything a good stir and cook uncovered for a final 10–15 minutes, until the sauce clings to the pasta and is starting to catch in places. Remove, leave to sit for 10 minutes, then serve with the parsley, parmesan and extra basil leaves sprinkled over the top.