Region: Italy
Category: Pasta with Vegetables
Season: Summer
Difficulty: Easy
This colorful dish is popular in the summer and is typical of an abundant garden in Apulia. You can prepare almost all of it ahead of time, and in fact that?s an easier way to do it, especially if you have guests, and then finish it off at the last moment by only cooking the pasta. It?s best to serve it without cheese. For a variety of color and taste try to use three different sweet or mild peppers, for example,1 red bell pepper, 1 yellow bell peppers, and 1 or 2 Italian long peppers of Hungarian wax peppers.
Yield: Makes 6 servings
Preparation Time: 1 hour
6 to 8 cups olive oil for deep frying
1/2 pound eggplant, cut lengthwise into wedges
1/2 pound (about 5) small yellow summer squash, trimmed and cut 1/4 inch thick diagonally
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 bell peppers or other mild peppers, seeded, sliced into strips
1 medium onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 pound penne rigate
1. In a deep-fryer or an 8-inch saucepan with a wire fry basket, preheat the frying oil to 360?F.
2. Deep-fry the eggplant pieces until golden brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Deep-fry the summer squash until light golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
3. In a flameproof casserole, heat the olive oil over medium heat, then cook, stirring, the peppers, onion, and garlic until the onion and peppers are soft, about 40 minutes. Add the reserved eggplant and summer squash, cook for 5 minutes, stirring, then turn the heat off, stir in the parsley, and leave until needed. If cooking much later, then reheat in the casserole.
4. For every pound of pasta, bring 6 quarts of water to a rolling boil over high heat, salt abundantly with up to 1/2 cup of salt, then add the pasta in handfuls. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally so the pasta doesn?t stick together, until al dente. Drain without rinsing. Transfer the pasta to the casserole and toss well over low heat, then serve.
Posted: 09/04/2008
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