Gemelli with Sausage and Eggplant

I made this on Friday at Greg’s request to make a filling pasta dish before our last long training run the next

eggplant sausage pasta

morning.  Nothing fills me up like sausage and pasta, and I thought the eggplant would give it a little more body to the sauce too.  It turned out great, and if you leave the sausage out, it takes a lot like Figo’s Eggplant Siciliana.  It was perfect right before the run.  Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil

1 large eggplant, cut into 3/4″ cubes

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 28 oz can whole Italian plum tomatoes

10 basil leaves, roughly chopped

3 large links turkey Italian sausage

1 ball fresh mozzarella, or 1/2 c regular mozzarella, cut into 1/2″ cubes

Salt and pepper, to taste

Parmesan for sprinkling

1 box gemelli, cooked until al dente

Directions:

Heat 2 T olive oil in a large skillet (non-stick works well here) and saute eggplant until softened and browned, about 10 minutes.  Sprinkle generously with salt.

Meanwhile, place another large skillet over medium high heat and crumble the Italian sausage into the pan.  Cook sausage, breaking up into small pieces with a spoon, until cooked through- about 5-7 minutes.  Add the garlic and saute 1 minute.  Add the tomatoes and cook for about 15 minutes to thicken, breaking up tomatoes with a spoon.  When sauce has thickened, stir in the eggplant and taste to adjust for seasoning.  Cook until heated through, then turn off heat.  Stir in basil.   Divide pasta and mozzarella among bowls and stir to combine.  Top pasta with sauce and stir to combine, then top with Parmesan and serve.