Baked Zita

By daiseyduck

Ingredients

• 4 Teaspoon plus 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 3/4 Pound sweet Italian sausage, casings, removed
• 1 small eggplant, cut into 1/2 cubes
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1 can (28oz.) crushed plum tomatoes with juice
• 5 oz. Ziti, cooked until al dente
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/3 cup rinsed chopped Kalamata olives
• 2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
• Kosher salt and freshly groun pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 45mins
Cooking time 75mins
Adapted from williams-sonoma.com

Preparation

Step 1

Position rack in upper third of oven, preheat to 400 F in 10 inch nonstick fry pan over medium-high heat. Warm 2 teaspoon oil. Brown sausage 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Discard all but 1 Tablespoon fat in pan. Set pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 Tablespoon Oil. Cook onion 5-6 minutes. Add garlic, cook 1 minute. Add wine, increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Cook 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and juices, simmer 10 minutes.

Add sausage, pasta, basil, olives, 2 cups mozzarella and tomato sauce to bowl with eggplant. Stir to combine Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to fry pan. Sprinkle 1/3 cup mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano over pasta. Cover bake 25 minutes. Uncover broil at 500 F for 5 minutes