Pappardelle & aubergine pesto
Umami heaven.
Equipment
- hand blender
- cast iron grill pan
- mandoline (or cheese slicer)
- silicone brush
- 2 ovens
Ingredients
- 2 aubergines
- 40 gr Parmesan cheese
- 1 garlic bulb
- 10 mini honey tomatoes
- 10 gr pine nuts
- 2 sprigs of fresh basil
- 300 gr fresh pappardelle all'uovo
- 200 gr garden peas
- 4 slices of one day old ciabatta
- 4 sprigs of fresh mint
- 4 burratini (mini burrata)
- high quality olive oil
- pepper & salt
- baking paper
Instructions
Prep
- You will either need two ovens for this one, or half an hour extra time.
- Preheat one oven to 200℃, and the other to 100℃.
- Take the burratini out of the fridge to let them come to room temperature.
Oven dried tomatoes
- Cut the tomatoes in half and put them cutting side up on a lined oven rack. Grate some pepper & salt over them and put them in the 100℃ oven for about and hour to 75 minutes.
Aubergine & Parmesan pesto
- Cut the top off the garlic bulb, drizzle some oil over the open top and put it in the other (200℃) oven for 30 minutes.
- Cut the aubergines in long thin slices using a mandoline or cheese slicer.
- Heat a cast iron grill pan until very warm.
- Meanwhile, spread out the slices of egg plant on a board and brush some olive oil on them.
- Grill the slices by putting them in the grill pan without any overlap and turn each slice around 3 times (each time after some time to let them acquire a grill mark) to create a nice grill pattern. Place the grilled slices on a paper towel and salt them as soon as they're ready and before starting the next batch.
- Shortly roast the pine nuts in a dry pan.
- Put ¾ of the grilled aubergine slices in the hand blender, add 30 gr of Parmesan cheese, the oven dried honey tomatoes, the soft content of 3 cloves of the soft, roasted garlic, a dash of high quality olive oil, the pine nuts, some fresh mint leaves and pepper and salt to taste. Blend to make the pesto.
Crunch
- Cut 4 slices of ciabatta (preferably one or a few days old) in cubes, drizzle some oil over it and add some pepper and salt.
- Put them on a lined baking tray and bake for about 10 minutes in the 200℃ oven.
Pasta & greens
- Cook the pasta according to instructions and blanch the peas for 30 seconds.
- Crunch the croutons.
- When the pasta is ready, mix it with the pesto. Add the other slices of aubergine and the peas, some fresh mint leaves and grate some Parmesan over it.
- Serve 4 plates, each with a mini burrata and finally sprinkle the crushed croutons on top.
