This sauce is good mixed with small pasta, or layered with lasagne and a bechamel sauce and baked. In fact, I bet you could mix it with small pasta and bake it. I have tried it two ways, once using some mystery chilli and herb seasoning that a relative bought back from Italy for me. I made a small quantity suitable for two or three people, so double this would be a really good lot of sauce sufficient to serve around six people.
Top tip discovered whilst doing this: One handful of small pasta weighs a good ounce. Three handfuls is one good-size portion of pasta. There are other versions of this classic sauce around: I found one in The Pasta Bible, and another on Allrecipes website
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 tsbs olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic
- A handful of fresh parsley (I used fresh flat-leaf parsley from the garden)
- 1 medium aubergine, diced
- 1/2 handful fresh basil leaves
- 1/4 tsp ground chilli (or use a small fresh chilli and add it with the garlic)
- 1/2 cup of boiling water
- Pinch of saffron
- 1/2 tsp marigold stock powder
- 1 tin chopped organic tomatoes
- 2 tbsp red wine
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
- (If you are using the mystery Italian seasoning from the holiday pack of pasta, use this in place of the parsley, chilli, basil and paprika, and add with the aubergines: I would suggests a heaped teaspoonful)
METHOD:
- Heat the oil in a medium saucepan, and add the garlic and parsley.
- Turn the heat to very low, squish the garlic with a wooden spoon, then cover and cook for about 10 minutes while you chop the aubergine. I got nervous about this, it seemed a long time, so I checked every so often, and took it off the heat once the garlic looked cooked.
- If you used a small whole fresh chilli, remove this now. Add the aubergines, chilli powder, basil, half the water, and cover to simmer for another 10 minutes.
- I put the marigold stock powder into the remaining hot water, along with the saffron and sugar and allowed this to infuse.
- After the 10 minutes is up, add the water, saffron, sugar, stock powder, wine and tomatoes, along with the paprika. Season to taste, cover and settle it to simmer for another 30 minutes.
- Once the sauce is cooked, put it somewhere safe, boil up the pasta of your choice, drain and then stir in the sauce.
- If you are using this for a baked pasta dish, stir in the cooked pasta, put it into an ovenproof dish, top with mozzarella, and bake for 20 minutes in a hot oven.