French cuisine · Dough, Pasta & Rice

Pasta à la Provençale

Pasta in a sauce of braised eggplant, tomatoes and plenty of garlic, finished with fresh basil.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 400 g penne
• 1 eggplant
• 600 g ripe tomatoes
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 onion
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 80 g black olives
• 1 bunch basil
• 1 tsp herbes de Provence
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Cut the eggplant into 2 cm cubes, salt them and let sit for 10 min.; peel, seed and dice the tomatoes, and finely chop the onion and garlic.
2. Heat 4 tbsp olive oil in a wide pan until very hot and fry the pat-dried eggplant cubes all over for 8 min. until browned, then remove.
3. In the remaining oil, sauté the onion and garlic for 3 min., then fry the tomato paste for 1 min. until it smells rich and dark.
4. Add the tomatoes and herbes de Provence and let the sauce reduce uncovered for 12–15 min. until thick and the oil separates at the edges.
5. Cook the penne in plenty of salted water until al dente, drain, reserving a cup of the cooking water.
6. Stir the eggplant and pitted olives into the sauce, toss the pasta in it with a little cooking water for 1 min., season with salt and pepper, and serve with roughly torn basil.