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Nutritional Information
per serve
• Energy: 1975kJ
• Protein: 20.5g
• Carbohydrate: 60.2g
• Sugar: 12g
• Total fats: 18.9g
• Saturated fats: 5.3g
• Fibre: 10g
Happiness Pasta
Sweet Tomato, Eggplant and Ricotta
As well as being very low in saturated fat compared to most other cheeses, ricotta is also high in calcium, a
nutrient vital in keeping our teeth and bones nice and strong.
Serves 4
Cooking time: 1 hour
Ingredients
•
•
•
•
2 eggplants
1 or 2 fresh red chillies
40 pine nuts
2 cloves of garlic
• 1 bunch of fresh basil (30g)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 x 400g tins of salt-reduced
tomatoes
• 300g dried wholewheat fusilli pasta
• 200g ricotta cheese
• 10g Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper
Method
1. Sit a double-layer bamboo steamer over a large pan of boiling salted water. Halve the eggplants lengthways and add to the baskets
skin side up with the whole chillies. Cover and steam for 25 minutes or until soft and tender, then remove. Transfer the chillies to a
small bowl and cover with clingfilm.
2. Lightly toast the pine nuts in a large casserole pan on a medium heat, then lightly crush in a pestle and mortar. Peel and finely slice
the garlic and finely chop the basil stalks, then add to the pan with olive oil, returning to the heat to cook until golden. Tip the
tomatoes into the pan through your hands, crushing and scrunching them up as you go. Fill each tin with water, swirl it around
and add to the pan with a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 30 minutes, or until
reduced by half, roughly chopping and adding the eggplants for the last 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in the pan of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions, then drain, reserving a mugful of
cooking water. Peel and deseed the chillies, then finely chop and stir into the sauce. Tear in most of the basil leaves and season to
perfection. Toss the pasta and ricotta through the sauce, loosening with a little reserved water if needed. Serve with the pine nuts
and remaining leaves scattered over, with a grating of Parmesan.
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