My dear pasta recipe :)

"Caro Sugo pasta sauce" means "my dear pasta sauce." As with all recipes, read the instructions before starting, lest you jump the gun. 

This shit has kept me going all week tbh

Buy

I assume you have non-garlic olive oil, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. (I like red pepper flakes from Aleppo.)

All Trader Joe's-brand ingredients

• Black pepper Barilotti pasta (Limited edition)
• Caro Sugo Italian tomao basil pasta sauce 
• Sweet Italian sausage
• Organic basil

  The organic basil for the east coast TJ’s tends to be a lot softer and smoother than the non-organic basil, which is bumpy and rough. We care about texture since we’re leaving the basil in, but do as you please 🍃
• Thyme
  Get the fresh kind 
• Eggplant 
• Cherry tomatoes

  Get the Villagio Marzano ones in the little bag — they look kinda elongated and are really sweet 
• Ciliegine or pearl mozzarella
  If you can handle

Make

This makes enough for you and a buddy or two helpings or dinner + a midnight snack 🫂

1. Set salted water to boil.
2. Into a cold pan on medium-high heat, squeeze out one Italian sausage into tiny blobs. If you’re making enough for two or like it …meaty, do two. You want the pieces bigger than a big blueberry, smaller than a cherry. Think green grape, I suppose. (I use the rest of the sausages across my other meals or freeze them.)
3. While the pan heats up, cut like 1/4 of the eggplant into cubes that are just a hair bigger on each side than the sausage blobs. I only cut enough to match the amount of sausage. Toss it in with the sausage and give it a little olive oil & a couple cracks of black pepper. 
4. Let the sausage season the eggplant with salt & herbs by pushing it around a little, but don’t be aggressive. We want little crusts to form on the sausage & the eggplant will stick if we rush it. If it doesn’t want to move, don’t insist. 
5. Strip a few threads of thyme and toss them on the sausage pan. If you want it spicy, and you should, now is the time to bloom the red pepper flakes. I like a hefty pinch.
6. Boil as much pasta as you want for 11-12 mins.  (I prefer to prep sauce but make my pasta fresh whenever I want it, so I only make as many noodles as I can eat.) Stirring occasionally helps this shape cook evenly. Cut a handful of cherry tomatoes in half, the long way.
7. When the sausage and eggplant are ready, turn off the heat and leave it in the pan. Drain the pasta, put it in a bowl, & give it a little olive oil.
8. Get the empty pot ripping hot again — when it’s at a high heat, pour in some olive oil and carefully add the tomatoes. Do not touch them for like a minute or two — you want them to blister. If it starts smoking, that’s good. Run the fan. Once they release from the pan, push them around to get them a little softer, then reduce the heat to medium. Add half the jar of sauce with the sausage & eggplant and let it all come to a simmer.
9. While the sauce heats up, wash and strip a handful of basil leaves from their stems. I like a big handful personally. If you have the rough kind of basil, tear it up. If soft, leave it whole. Add the leaves into the sauce once it starts to bubble up & turn off the heat immediately.
10. Scoop half of it over your pasta & add the cheese. More black pepper! 

Save the rest for later or share with a friend <3