Macaroni with aubergines, ossocollo and smoked ricotta

Today the protagonists are aubergines, excellent in the stuffed and fried version, a typical recipe from Messina, or stuffed with tuna and cheese and baked as they do in Sardinia; and do we want to talk about Parmigiana? But on a hot day like today, I thought of fresh pasta.

• 350 gr of macaroni
• 1 aubergine
• 450 g of plum tomatoes
• 80 g of mozzarella
• 50 g of parmesan cheese
• 50 g of bacon and 50 of capocollo
• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 hot chili pepper
•  bunch of basil
• 4 tablespoons of red wine
• mature smoked ricotta
• extra virgin olive oil
• seed oil for frying
• salt and pepper

The preparation

Clean the aubergine, cut it into cubes, and fry it in plenty of peanut oil; once cooked, let the cubes drain on kitchen paper. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water, after a few minutes, remove them from the boiling water and immerse them in cold water to stop the cooking, peel them, remove the seeds, and cut them into pieces.

Chop the garlic and onion, previously peeled, with the chili pepper; put everything in a pan and brown with two tablespoons of olive oil. Add the capocollo and the bacon cut into cubes; brown everything for a few minutes, then add the wine. Once the wine has evaporated, add the tomatoes and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Turn off the stove and add the eggplant cubes and the chopped basil.

Cook the macaroni in plenty of boiling salted water; once cooked and drained from the water, add the sauce and sauté everything in the pan. Finally, add the mozzarella cut into small pieces and the grated parmesan. Plate the pasta and complete the dish with a nice grating of seasoned smoked ricotta.

Buon appetito

Elisa