Eggplant pasta bake

To make this eggplant pasta bake, start with the béchamel sauce: Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it’s lukewarm. At the same time, melt the butter over low heat 1 in another saucepan. Once melted, add all of the flour at once 2. Whisk together quickly and, once you have a roux, pour in the lukewarm milk in three portions 3.

Cook for about 5-6 minutes, stirring with a whisk to prevent lumps 4 without letting the sauce thicken too much 5; set aside and leave to cool. Wash, trim, and then slice the eggplant, using a mandoline if possible, to get slices about ¼ inch (5 mm) thick 6.

Fry a few slices of eggplant at a time in vegetable oil at approximately 340°F (170° C) (measure using a kitchen thermometer) (7-8) and drain on oil-absorbing paper for fried food 9.

Next, heat the water for the pasta and add salt when it reaches a boil. Dice the provolone cheese (10-11), then cook the fusilli until they are al dente 12.

In the meantime, drain and cut the sun-dried tomatoes into small pieces and pour three-quarters into the cooled béchamel sauce 13, season with salt and pepper to taste, then blend it all together using an immersion blender 14. Pour the béchamel sauce with sun-dried tomatoes into a bowl, add the fusilli, which have been cooked al dente and then drained, and stir to combine 15.

Add almost all of the diced provolone 16 and nearly all of Grana Padano cheese 17, reserving 1½ tbsp (10 g). Mix well with a spatula 18.

Arrange the fried eggplant in a baking dish, making sure to line the bottom 19 and lay all the eggplant along the dish so that they overflow slightly 20. Pour the pasta in the sauce over the eggplant, spreading it evenly 21.

Lastly, sprinkle with the remaining Grana Padano cheese 22. Fold the eggplant over the pasta 23 and top with the reserved provolone cheese 24.

Add the remaining sun-dried tomatoes (25-26). Bake in a convection oven preheated to 360°F (180°C) for 12 minutes. Once you’ve taken the eggplant pasta bake out of the oven, you can decorate it with fresh basil leaves 27 before serving it piping hot.