Baked Angel Hair with Eggplant

Ingredients ¹⁄₂ cup olive oil, divided
4-6 Japanese eggplants (about 2 pounds total), cut into 1-inch slices
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound mild Italian sausage, casings removed
¹⁄₃ cup red wine
3 cups marinara sauce (This is about 1 jar)
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
8 ounces angel hair pasta
1 pound mozzarella cheese, diced
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 (17 ¹⁄₄-ounce) package frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 375*F.

2. Heat ¹⁄₄ cup of oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add half of the eggplant and toss to coat in the oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté the eggplant until it is golden and tender, about 10 minutes. Decrease the heat to medium. Add half of the garlic and sauté until it is tender, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer the eggplant mixture to a large bowl. Repeat with the remaining ¹⁄₄ cup oil and the remaining eggplant and garlic.

3. Add the sausage and wine to the same frying pan. Cook over medium-high heat until the wine evaporates and the sausage is brown, breaking the sausage into pieces with a spoon or spatula, about 8 minutes. Add the sausage, marinara sauce, and crushed red pepper to the eggplant mixture, and toss to combine.

4. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the angel hair and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until pasta is still slightly crunchy and undercooked. Drain. Toss the angel hair with the eggplant mixture. Add the mozzarella and Parmesan and toss to combine.

5. Roll out 1 pastry sheet on a floured surface to a 13 ¹⁄₂-inch square. Transfer to a deep casserole dish that is around 2 quarts in size, allowing the excess pastry to hang over the rim. Spoon the pasta mixture into the pan. Place the second (unrolled) pastry sheet atop the pasta filling. Pinch the edges of the pastry sheets together to seal. Trim the overhanging pastry edges to about 1-inch. Fold the pastry edges in to form a decorative border. Cut a slit in the center of the top pastry to allow the steam to escape.

6. Bake until the pastry is brown and puffed on top, about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Let stand for 20 minutes. Serve.

Comments
This recipe is from Giada De Laurentiis.  It was fantastic!  I selected it to use the Japanese eggplant we’d gotten from the market and it turned out very well.  The original recipe calls for a 9-inch springform pan, but there is no way everything would have fit unless you’ve got a pan with very high sides.  I used a glass casserole dish that’s about 9 inches in diameter and around 4 inches deep.  Plating would have been easier with a springform, I’m sure!  

I didn’t notice any difference between Japanese eggplant and the other eggplant I’ve eaten.  Regardless of that, this dish was great.  In the future I might even skip the puff pastry part and just make it as a straight bake in the oven since the pastry was a bit superfluous even if it was pretty!

Internet - Giada De Laurentiis