Alton Brown's Eggplant 'pasta'

Um Safia's Note:

Although this recipe is called pasta, it actually contains no pasta! Alton suggests serving this as a first course but we enjoy it as a light lunch with fresh crusty bread......

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 40 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 2 medium-large eggplants
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 4 small tomatoes , seeded & chopped
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons fresh basil chiffonade
• ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• fresh ground black pepper
• salt (for salting the eggplant)

Directions:

1. Peel each eggplant, leaving 1" of skin unpeeled at the top & bottom. Slice the eggplant thinly lengthwise, about 1/4" thick.
2. Evenly sprinkle each slice with salt & lay out for 30 minutes on a sheet pan fitted with a wire rack.
3. Rinse with cold water & roll in paper towels. Slice the pieces into thin fettucine-like strips.
4. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over a medium heat. Add the garlic & crushed red pepper, & cook until garlic is golden & aromatic.
5. Add th eggplant 'pasta' & toss to coat. Add the tomatoes & cook for 3 minutes. Add the cream & increase the heat to thicken the sauce.
6. Finally, add the basil & Parmesan. Toss to combine. Season with black pepper but remember the eggplant will already be salty enough!

Reviews

[morlin]

Always a hit -- and with this crowd that doesn't even like eggplant parmigiana that's a big deal. Thanks for having this recipe here. If I couldn't find it, I was going to load it because it is too good to lose.

[tinkonthebrink]

I make a half recipe of this (one eggplant) for two adults. Have made several times now, last time added white wine and reduced, which made it even better. Quick, easy, relatively healthy - certainly healthier than conventional pasta!

[BurtonFanatic]

This is simply amazing. I used lowfat cream and I cut the eggplant into strips and then salted them on accident and this dish still turned out very well. Next time I will use ricotta instead of cream to make it healthier.