Pan-tastic pasta
I just love this summer meal. It’s packed full of everything that’s flourishing in the garden right now. Served either hot or cold,it’s an easy meal to feed a crowd. The key is having the same volume of meatballs/veges/herbs as cooked pasta – and making sure you’ve cooked the pasta in well-salted water.
- 12 mins cooking
- Serves 8
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Ingredients
Pan-tastic pasta
- 250 gram penne (yields about 4 cups cooked)
- 1/4 cup good-quality olive oil, plus extra for cooked pasta
- 6 sausages, pinched into walnut-sized meatballs (see tip)
- 2 large red capsicum, de-seeded and sliced
- 1/2 eggplant, cut in 2cm x 2cm cubes
- 300 gram cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 4 tablespoon lemon juice
- 100 gram parmesan, shaved
Method
Pan-tastic pasta
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1Bring a large pot of well-salted water (about 2 tbsp table salt) to the boil.
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2Cook the pasta to just cooked through and still firm to the bite (about 12 minutes). Drain well and throw in a splash of olive oil.
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3While the pasta is cooking, fry meatballs until cooked through, then remove from pan. Use the same pan to sauté the capsciums on a low-medium heat until soft. Set aside.
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4Lastly, toss the eggplant lightly in oil until coated, then fry until golden. Resist adding more oil during cooking.
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5If you want to serve the pasta hot, tip it in the pan for a quick re-heat before tossing it in a big bowl with the meatballs, veges, tomatoes, parsley, salt and pepper, olive oil and lemon juice.
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6Garnish with Parmesan and serve.
Notes
Sausages are not only good on the barbecue. I always keep some thin, good-quality ones in the freezer, which can be defrosted quickly, then the ground meat pinched out of the casings to look like you’ve made your own meatballs. Genius!
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