8 vine-ripe tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, peeled
bunch fresh basil leaves, torn
1/2 cup Extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for frying eggplant and potatoes
2 eggplants, cubed
3 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced into strips
1 pound spaghetti
1 cup pecorino cheese, freshly grated
Directions
To make the sauce, which is called pesto alla trapanese: Place tomatoes, garlic and basil in a large mortar. Add extra virgin olive oil, salt and use a pestle to crush the ingredients into a paste. If the pesto looks too dry, add more olive oil. Crush the ingredients until the pesto sauce is even in consistency. Alternatively, place the above ingredients in a food processor and puree.
Heat up extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan and fry eggplant until golden. Place fried eggplant on an absorbent paper towel to drain excess oil. Season the eggplant, while hot, with salt. Follow the same procedure to fry up the potatoes.
Place spaghetti in a pot of boiling salted water. Stir initially to prevent from sticking.
Drain the spaghetti when it is ‘al dente’. Place the spaghetti in a large mixing bowl, add the pesto sauce, half the quantity of eggplant, potatoes, pecorino cheese and mix thoroughly. Transfer to a large serving bowl and top with the remaining eggplant, potatoes and pecorino cheese. Serve immediately.
Resource: Courtesy of
