Baked Ziti with Eggplant, Sausage & Olives
Baked pasta with sweet Italian sausage, tomatoes, eggplant, and Kalamata olives
Baked pasta with sweet Italian sausage, tomatoes, eggplant, and Kalamata olives
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- kosher salt to taste
- fresh ground pepper to taste
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic peeled & minced
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1/3 cup kalamata olives chopped
- 1 20 oz. package sweet italian sausage casings removed (sweet or hot)
- 1 small eggplant cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 28 oz. can crushed plum tomatoes
- 4 cups ziti cooked, al dente
- 1/4 cup basil fresh chopped
- 2-1/2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- Carbohydrate 109.304862001167 g
- Cholesterol 133.016000002803 mg
- Fat 8.07235000177977 g
- Fiber 4.47462011671066 g
- Protein 22.916962001253 g
- Saturated Fat 1.47655900067103 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (376g)
- Sodium 168.509100050314 mg
- Sugar 104.830241884457 g
- Trans Fat 1.58306960007961 g
- Calories 635 calories
Step-by-step
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and rinse in cold water, cover and set aside.
- Position a rack in the upper third of oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.
- In a 12-inch nonstick fry pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add decased sausage and cook, crumbling with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink and is cooked through - about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl.
- Using the same pan, heat 4 teaspoons of the olive oil and add the eggplant; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and the edges are starting to brown, about 6-8 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to the bowl with the sausage.
- Set the same pan over medium heat and warm the remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Add the onion and cook until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine, increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring to scrape up any brown bits. Cook until the liquid is almost evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add the can of crushed tomatoes and simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.
- In the bowl with the eggplant and sausage, add the cooked pasta, basil, olives, 2 cups of mozzarella and the tomato sauce and mix to combine; season with salt & pepper.
- Transfer this mixture to a 9x13" lightly oiled baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella and the parmesan cheese on top. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and broil for 2-4 minutes, keeping a close eye, until the cheese is lightly golden.
Standard ingredient lists provide exact measurements without revealing how preparation order dictates flavor development, particularly when managing limited kitchen budgets and single-skillet workflows. Browning cubed eggplant requires patience because dry, sponge-like flesh absorbs oil quickly before releasing moisture back into the pan, meaning rushing this step at medium heat yields rubbery chunks rather than tender pieces with browned edges. Utilizing a single twelve-inch nonstick skillet across multiple phases preserves rendered pork fat from the sausage to flavor subsequent vegetables without requiring extra culinary fat purchases. Deglazing the pan with red wine after sweating onions dissolves fond stuck to the bottom, incorporating caramelized proteins directly into the crushed plum tomatoes as they simmer for ten minutes.
Ruining baked pasta dishes usually stems from moisture mismanagement, which turns casseroles watery instead of cohesive. Rinsing boiled ziti in cold water stops internal cooking and washes away surface starch that would otherwise help the tomato sauce cling to the tubes. Eggplant retains internal water unless cooked sufficiently until tender and golden brown in the skillet before mixing into the bowl. When red wine is added to the aromatics, boiling it until almost completely evaporated removes harsh alcohol notes that would otherwise dominate the sauce and overpower the briny chopped kalamata olives.
Fresh basil leaves wilt differently than dried herbs when baked inside a heavy casserole, releasing essential oils that permeate the mozzarella and parmesan mixture during the initial twenty-five minutes under aluminum foil. Preserved ingredients like canned crushed tomatoes and cured olives offer consistent year-round acidity and salt compared to seasonal garden produce, requiring adjustments to kosher salt levels only after combining all components. Combining the cooked pasta, decased meat, vegetables, and two cups of mozzarella directly in a large mixing bowl ensures even distribution before transferring everything into the baking dish.
Controlling oven dynamics prevents the top cheese layer from burning before the interior reaches serving temperature. Positioning the baking rack in the upper third of the forty-hundred-degree oven exposes the surface to direct radiant heat once the protective foil is removed for the final two to four minutes of broiling. Monitoring the mozzarella closely during this brief browning phase guarantees a lightly golden crust without scorching the underlying dairy or drying out the ziti underneath.
