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Dairy
Medium
1 Hour
Diets 
Watch Naomi and her daughter Gabi prepare this recipe here! Get more Chanukah recipes from our Chanukah recipe collection.
3 large eggplants
1/2 cup Zeta Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes
1/4 cup Zeta Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
6 large cloves garlic
1 teaspoon Gefen Red Pepper Flakes
about 2 teaspoons kosher salt
20 fresh basil leaves
kosher salt
1 pound Tuscanini Penne Rigate
1 pound fresh mozzarella, cut into small pieces
1 bunch basil, thinly sliced
grated parmesan, to serve
springform pan
Light an indoor grill pan on medium-high heat and let it get hot for five to seven minutes.
Cut the top and bottom of each eggplant so it can stand up. Slice the skin off the right and left side. Now, one pair of the eggplant’s opposite side will have skin and the other will not.
Cut the eggplant into vertical slices, 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick, beginning where you have removed the skin, so each piece has a little skin in the sides.
Use a silicone brush to coat the front and back of each slice generously with olive oil, and then place as many eggplant slices on the grill as you can without overlapping.
Cook until the eggplant has a beautiful golden grill marks and flip.
Once the eggplant has a nice grill on the second side and is floppy when you pick it up with your tongs, it’s done.
Place a medium-sized heavy-bottomed pan over a medium flame for a couple of minutes.
Add the tomatoes into a separate medium sized bowl and squeeze by hand to make a puree, but be careful of the splattering!
Add the olive into the hot pan, followed by the garlic and red pepper flakes. Don’t let the garlic burn or even brown.
After several minutes, add the tomato puree.
Add a sprinkling of salt (about one teaspoon) and the basil leaves. Stir occasionally. Should take about 30 minutes for the mixture to no longer be watery.
Taste for salt and add more if necessary.
Bring a large pot of water to boil over a high heat. Throw in a handful of salt, and cook the pasta until it’s four minutes away from being al dente, or a little over half the cooking time suggested on the box. Drain the pasta.
Mix the hot pasta with the tomato sauce in its pot. Add the fresh mozzarella and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir to melt. Add the basil and mix to combine. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line the springform pan with the roasted eggplant. Your goal is to create an “eggplant bowl” that you will fill with the pasta. In order for the eggplant bowl to hold the pasta, it can’t have any cracks – each piece should overlap so there are no openings. Here’s how to do it:
Using a little olive oil on a paper towel, lightly oil the springform pan.
Use a few slices of eggplant to mostly cover the bottom of the pan. Be sure to overlap the edges.
Begin to lay the eggplant up on the sides of the pan, and let the pieces hang over the top edge. Each eggplant must slightly overlap the one next to it and must overlap the one below it on the bottom of the pan.
Go around until you have a “bowl” made of eggplant.
Fill your eggplant bowl with the pasta, pushing it down to make sure all the spaces are filled. Flip over the eggplant side flaps and cover the pasta with the remaining eggplant slices, overlapping of course.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Remove and let it sit for 10 minutes. (The longer it sits, the less messy it will be when cutting.)
Place a large serving plate on top of the pan. Holding onto the plate and the pan, flip them over carefully so that the plate is on the bottom.
Remove the springform pan.
Use a large knife to cut and a spatula/cake knife to serve.
Top with freshly grated parmesan.
This recipe is adapted with permission from Meal and a Spiel.
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