Classic Sicilian pasta of fusilli tossed with eggplant, tomatoes, and capers with added tofu to boost the protein punch.
Re-entry has not been smooth. After spending a month in Italy, my internal clock remains in vacanza, as it clearly has no idea if I should be awake or asleep at any given moment. Admittedly, catching a bad cold the final day of vacation followed by staying up for 24 hours straight the day we flew home hasn't helped.
But I know this will all settle out with time, like most things in life, and truthfully it’s so nice to be back wrapped in the familiar sights and smells of home, as Myles and I pick back up the strings of our lives.
The trip was a wonderful opportunity to travel to towns and regions of Italy I hadn’t been to yet, and to be reminded anew how food can change so dramatically from one region to the next. There were so many dishes I tried that were new to me, and I foresee countless hours of experiments in my future as I unravel the secrets of making farinata, a popular chickpea dish throughout Liguria, and a vegetable flan in a Parmesan sauce I inhaled in Genoa.
While traveling, I dined on pasta for either lunch or dinner (and sometimes both) nearly every day. Arguably one of the world's top comfort foods, it's also a great way to see how Italy's food changes from one region (or town) to the next – through both the sauce and the shape of the pasta. Fusilli, shown in this recipe, brings Sicily to mind with women twisting dough around their knitting needles to form the distinctive shape that hugs their sauces of eggplant and tomatoes so effectively. Liguria which runs along the Italian Riviera, is home to the pesto sauce and its trademark thin trofie pasta rolled in the palm of the hand. And if you ever see a seductive beet ravioli on a menu tossed in browned butter and poppy seeds, you can be sure it’s provenance traces back to one of the Italian Regions in the north, like Trentino – Alto Adige.
So, a little about this pasta dish: it's pure Sicily with it’s fusilli pasta noodles tossed in an eggplant-tomato-caper sauce, but we actually had it in a small trattoria in Florence, Birreria Centrale, that spills out onto a small piazza a marble-stones throw from the Orsanmichele Church and Museum. It made for a very cozy, romantic setting for our last evening in Italy with it’s arched brick ceiling, eclectic heavy pews and thrones for seating, and large wooden framed windows that swung out to the piazza to usher in the mildly cool night air.
The food was simple and absolutely fabulous. We shared several dishes that night and they were all winners. If you’re planning a trip to Florence, I heartily recommend it, although in the interest of full disclosure, their version of the pasta didn’t incorporate the tofu which I added, so feel free to omit it if you’re not a fan. Although, and no pressure here, the tofu blends so completely into the sauce by absorbing all the flavors this might be a great way to try tofu if you’ve been thinking about it.
And as a quick note on the recipe, many eggplants will work in this recipe except perhaps Chinese eggplants as they are a little sweeter and I'm not sure that would go well with this recipe. I used a large globe eggplant as shown in the below photo I snapped in an Italian open market.
Fusilli with Eggplant Tomatoes and Capers
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant equals about 1 cup cubed, post salting
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup minced yellow onion
- 2 tablespoons minced carrot
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- ¼ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- few twists of pepper
- ⅓ cup coarsely chopped semi-soft tofu
- 4 ½ cups chopped tomatoes with their juices canned tomatoes can be substituted
- 1 ½ tablespoons capers rinsed
- ⅓ cup vegetable broth
- 1 ½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 cups dried fusilli pasta
- Parmesan cheese optional
Instructions
- Slice off the top and bottom from the eggplant and peel. Slice into ½" slices, lightly salt, and place in a colander. Weight the eggplant down with some plates and let sit for 30 minutes. The salt can counter some bitterness frequently present in eggplant, and help remove moisture. Chop and set aside.
- Heat up the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat and add the onion and carrot. Once they become just tender, about 8 - 10 minutes, add the thyme, pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Saute for another couple of minutes to open up the herbs and spices, and add the tofu. Saute for another couple of minutes.
- Add the eggplant, tomatoes, capers, and vegetable broth. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the tomatoes break down and melt into the sauce. Add the balsamic vinegar and stir. Simmer for another minute.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the package directions.
- Toss the pasta and sauce together and serve with Parmesan cheese on the side.
Notes
Choc Chip Uru
Aaaaah I'm so jealous my friend! I am glad you had such an incredible holiday though 😉
Welcome back and thanks for bringing a little Italy to us with this magnificent pasta!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
The Wimpy Vegetarian
It was just wonderful - and thanks for the welcome home! Hope your classes are going well CCU.
TasteFood
Welcome back! What a fabulous trip!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks Lynda! It's really nice to be back home - now if only it would cool down a bit here 🙂
lizthechef
Welcome home and I look forward to many more Italian recipe "gems" such as this one - great photo too...
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks so much Liz! This was an easy one, some will take some serious experimenting. But you'll see them soon I hope.
apuginthekitchen
Welcome back from "vacanza" what a wonderful time you had. I love nothing better than eating my way around Italy. This dish is truly Siciliano at its best. The eggplant and capers are just perfect with the tomato. Delicious!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Grazie mille, Suzanne. It seems like so long ago now, although I was just there a few days ago. Next trip will definitely be to Sicily and Sardinia. I'm already looking forward to it 🙂
Suzi
Lovely photos and welcome back, lucky you. This dish looks really tasty and I like the tofu addition. Have a wonderful week.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks Suzi! I'm looking for all kinds of ways to add tofu to things right now, and this one worked great. Feel free to add more tofu if you want too 🙂
[email protected]
LOL I see what you mean about similar posts;) we must have been in Sicily around the same time too! I was doing a cookery and food course in the south about an hour from Catania. you might like the recipe for sicilian pasta, which generally is egg free!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Oh, that sounds great!! I'll have to look into it - thanks for the tip 🙂
Sylvia Certo
Fantastico description of your Italian food experience!!!!!! Sono d'accordo!!!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
OUR food experience, bella!! Remember that fabulous pasta with pears and balsamic at the hotel in Chiavari? I'm totally taking that one on, if only because I want to have it again 🙂 Ci vediamo la settimana prossimo.
Terra
What a wonderful experience to go for a whole month to Italy! I honestly dream about my trip to France. I plan to one day live there for at least a year, if less that would be okay too. I told hubby it just has to happen, I am not a dreamer, I am a doer:-) He agreed that I should make that dream come true for sure, which shows I have the best husband ever!!! Eating pasta everyday in Italy sounds pretty delicious to me:-) Your recipe sounds wonderful, and a perfect comfort food! Hugs, Terra
The Wimpy Vegetarian
It was a wonderful experience, and if you've got a dream to live in France for a year, you've got to do it. Your hubby is wonderful for being so supportive!! One of the many things that's so great about being there for awhile is that you don't feel like every day has to be jammed with doing something. You can kick back and relax and just enjoy being there.
Michele
Thanks - but what do you do with the balsamic vinegar? When is it added? The recipe doesn't say!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry. I'll add it right now. Once the tomatoes start to break down and melt into the sauce, I add the balsamic vinegar. Thank you so much for pointing this out to me!
Michele
Thank you! That's what I figured you were going to say, so that's what I did. I made your sauce tonight (minus the tofu, which I hate) and it was amazing! thank you so much!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Tofu admittedly is an acquired taste that I'm still acquiring :-). Thanks so much for letting me know how the recipe worked for you! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! You made my day 🙂