Pasta in Roasted Eggplant Sauce – Pareve version

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Roasted Vegetables

1. 1
   Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F).

   ⚙ Preheating the OvenOven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
2. 2
   Cut the vegetables into even pieces.

   KnifeCutting board
3. 3
   Sprinkle salt over the vegetables and leave 20 minutes, so it releases liquid.
4. 4
   In a bowl, toss the vegetables with the olive oil.

   Bowl
5. 5
   Spread on a baking sheet in a single layer, without crowding.

   Baking pan
6. 6
   Roast the vegetables in a hot oven (200°C / 390°F) 25 minutes, until the eggplant is tender and golden.

   ⚙ Oven roastingOvenBaking pan

   💡Give it room in the pan: crowded vegetables steam instead of browning.

For the Tomato sauce

1. 7
   In a bowl, mix the tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and black pepper with the salt.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStoveFrying pan
2. 8
   Add and fry 3 minutes, until the peppers soften.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 9
   Add and stir about a minute, until fragrant.

   ⚙ SimmeringStove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.

For the Cooked pasta

1. 10
   Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water (4¼ cups of water and a heaping teaspoon of salt for every 4 oz of pasta), following the package directions (taste about 2 minutes early), until al dente.

   ⚙ Cooking in salted waterStovePot

   💡The water should taste like a seasoned soup, not like sea water: a heaping teaspoon of salt per liter. Add the salt once the water is boiling.
2. 11
   Reserve cup of the cooking water before draining.

   ⚙ Saving the cooking waterLadleorMeasuring cup

   💡The cooking water is starchy: a spoonful or two binds the sauce to the pasta or the gnocchi and makes it glossy.
3. 12
   Drain.

   Colander

To assemble

1. 13
   Add the roasted vegetables to the sauce.
2. 14
   Add the drained pasta to the sauce, with a little of the cooking water if it is thick, and toss well.

   💡Toss the pasta in the sauce over the heat for one minute: it soaks up the sauce instead of just being coated in it.
3. 15
   Serve immediately with the Parmesan and basil.