Aubergine harissa cavatelli with cherry tomatoes

Anecdote

This dish was inspired by this gochujang eggplant pasta. I was intrigued by the technique of roasting the aubergine and then blending it to form a silky sauce. I think It might just win over the most committed aubergine haters. But why blend with harissa you ask. I had a small jar that needed using up so I thought to pair the two. I served the sauce with cavatelli as it's one of my favourite shapes to make but feel free to use what you have in your cupboard.

NB: You can also make the aubergine harissa purée ahead of time and keep in the fridge.

Ingredients

Cavatelli:

• 200g semolina flour/semola rimacinata (you can find this on Sous Chef or local Italian shops. I bought mine from Eataly in London)

• lukewarm water (I measured 100g but didn't use all of it up, drizzle the water in bit by bit)

• pinch of sea salt

Aubergine harissa & cherry tomatoes sauce:

• 1 medium aubergine/eggplant

• 1 shallot

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1 heaped tablespoon harissa paste

• juice of 1/2 lemon

• ~130g/around 2 small handfuls of cherry tomatoes, each halved

• extra virgin olive oil

• freshly ground black pepper

• chilli flakes (optional)

• sea salt (for aubergine salting and sauce to taste)

To serve:

• finely chopped parsley

• grated parmesan or pecorino (optional) 

Recipe

If you're making the cavatelli, see here for the method. For this dish, I flicked them out on a board, I bought mine from Sous Chef.

Sauce:

1. Preheat the oven to 190C

2. Slice the aubergine in half lengthwise and then criss cross score each one. Sprinkle the sliced sides with sea salt, rubbing it in and place on a roasting tray

3. Slice your shallots, pile on the same roasting tray (no need to spread them out as they'll burn otherwise, you just want them to brown). Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle a small pinch of sea salt and give it a toss

4. Drizzle olive oil over the cut side of the aubergines, give it a rub and flip them so that the cut sides are face down

5. Place the tray in the oven for 25 minutes, check the shallots halfway to ensure they are not burning. If they are browning too quickly, cover them with foil

6. Get your blender ready. Throw in two garlic cloves, squeeze in the lemon juice and scoop out the aubergine innards (if you're doing it straight out of the oven you might want to hold them with tongs. Or just use your hands if you've already burnt them multiple times and have no sensation anymore...). Add in the harissa and hit the blend button, a few seconds should do it - just until it forms a smooth purée. Set aside

1. Heat a pan with olive oil. Add the halved cherry tomatoes (with chilli flakes) and fry until just soft, the juices should be oozing out a little. Take out of the pan and set aside

2. In the same pan turn down the heat slightly. Add the shallots and once heated through, pour in the purée, stirring constantly. Crack in the black pepper. I didn't add any salt at this point as I hadn't poured in the salty pasta water yet. Keep warm on the lowest heat

3. Boil a pot of water, season with sea salt and add your pasta. Cook until al dente

4. Lift the pasta into the pan, bringing with it generous amounts of pasta water. Crank up the heat to medium and stir. Add more pasta water, stir and see if it's the consistency you like. Add the cherry tomatoes back in and stir. Season to taste

5. Serve with chopped parsley (and more chilli flakes and grated parmesan/pecorino)