Delicious scents chase each other and envelop the nostrils, the aromas tickle the senses, pasta with aubergines and pesto is on the table! Here's a simple and delicious recipe, perfect for the hotter days we're heading towards. And it is also packed with anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective and anti-aging substances, thanks to the garlic and basil in the pesto, but also to the aubergines. In fact, frying aubergines is a way to stimulate liver work and detoxification processes but above all to increase the antioxidant power and the body's ability to assimilate the precious free radical scavenging substances contained in aubergines (Martini et al, Food Chem, 2021 ).
Ingredients
320 grams of whole durum wheat spaghetti
2 eggplants
40 fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons of pine nuts
20 grams of grated Parmesan
1 clove of garlic
Coarse salt
Extra virgin olive oil
Oil for frying
Start by making the pesto. Put a few grains of coarse salt, the basil, the pine nuts and the garlic in the mixer. Blend the ingredients. Add the Parmesan and blend again. Pour the mixture into a bowl and start pouring in the extra virgin olive oil, continuing to mix. Pour oil until you get a sauce of the right thickness, then set it aside. Now move on to preparing the aubergines. Wash the aubergines, then cut them widthwise into slices about 1 cm thick. Arrange the aubergines on a colander and sprinkle them with salt, let them rest for half an hour so that they lose their water. After this time, rinse the aubergines and squeeze them gently, then dry them with kitchen paper. Heat plenty of oil in a pan and fry the aubergines, then drain and dry the excess oil with paper towels. Boil the pasta and drain it al dente. Distribute the pasta on plates and season with the pesto. Complete with the aubergines, mix and serve. The extra note that makes the dish even healthier and more irresistible? Sprinkle spaghetti with chopped pistachios.
