Happy Meatless Monday!  This week, we’re featuring a recipe from well-known Iron Chef Mario Batali.  Batali has been a long time meat-lover, with meaty recipes prominently featured in his cooking and available at his many restaurants.  But Batali has created many vegetarian dishes and what might surprise you is that he’s become an advocate of Meatless Monday.  As Meatless Monday and the Huffington post reports, Batali’s 14 restaurants now honour Meatless Monday with several meat-free menu options as entrees.  Batali joins other early Meatless Monday adopters like Al Gore, Michael Pollan, Sir Paul McCartney, Simon Cowell and Gwyneth Paltrow; not to mention the entire Baltimore Public School System, nearly 30 college campuses and 100 blogs; and 8 international programs spanning Brazil to Taiwan.

Pasta alla Norma (Baked Penne with Eggplant)
Makes 6 Servings | Region: Sicilia | Book: Molto Italiano (Ecco 2005)

The success of this dish relies on the quality of the eggplant. Older, larger eggplant tend to hold bigger seed pockets and can be bitter, so look for small to medium sized eggplants, of any variety. If you cannot find ricotta salata, try a young pecorino or provolone.

• 2 pounds small to medium eggplant, cut into ¼ inch-thick slices
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pound penne
• 2 cups basic tomato sauce
• 1 cup toasted bread crumbs
• ½ cup freshly grated pecorino romano
• 10 fresh basil leaves, roughly torn
• An 8 ounce piece of ricotta salata for grating

Directions

Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot, and add 2 tablespoons salt

Meanwhile, in a 10 to 12 inch sauté pan, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Working in batches, sauté the eggplant slices, seasoning them with salt and pepper, turning once, until golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Grease a 9 by 12 inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.

Cook the penne in the boiling water for 2 minutes short of the package instructions; it should still be quite firm. Drain and rinse under cold water until cool. Drain very well, place in a large bowl, and toss with 1 cup of the tomato sauce.

Cover the bottom of the baking dish with ¼ cup of the tomato sauce. Top with half the bread crumbs, then add half the pasta. Arrange half of the eggplant slices, overlapping them slightly, on top of the pasta. Dot about ¼ cup of tomato sauce over the eggplant, and top with half of the pecorino and half of the basil. Top with the remaining pasta, arrange the remaining eggplant over the pasta, and dot with the remaining tomato sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining pecorino and basil, and then the remaining bread crumbs, and drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Bake for 45 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Place a generous portion of pasta on each plate, grate ricotta salata over, and serve.

Basic Tomato Sauce
Makes 4 Cups

• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 spanish onion, cut into ¼ inch dice
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
• ½ medium carrot, finely shredded
• Two 28 ounce cans whole tomatoes
• Salt

In a 3 quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and light golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the thyme and carrot and cook until the carrot is quite soft, about 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, with their juice, and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer until as thick as hot cereal, about 30 minutes. Season with salt. The sauce can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for 6 months.

Thanks to Mario for his wonderful recipe and for promoting Meatless Monday at your restaurants.  For you carnivores out there, in moderation, eating meat-free on Mondays is an achievable objective that is beneficial to your health and sustainable future of our planet.  Try some of our recipes and discover different plant-based meals while sampling flavourful ways to bring more veggies into your life.  To join growing list of supporters of the Meatless Monday movement, visit meatlessmonday.com.