pasta autunno

Pasta with aubergines, blue vinney and rocket: one of my favourites. I've made it several times before. I've learned that tweaking it slightly can make a very noticable difference. This week I'm adding stilton instead of blue vinney (one of my purchases from the cheese festival last Saturday) and using tricolore fusilli to give it the feeling of autumn.

I've prepared the aubergines several ways - roasting, sauteeing, a combination of the two. Roasting large chunks works best - fleshy, soft, but not too oily.

Blue vinney naturally has about 30% less fat than other blue cheeses, so be careful not to overuse stilton.

(serves 2 - one large and one small portion)
300 g tricolore fusilli
75 g rocket
2 medium aubergines, sliced into rounds and quartered
20 sprays olive oil
100 g stilton


Preheat the oven to 200 C. Place the aubergines in the roasting tin and spray with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 45 minutes.

About 15 minutes before the aubergines finish roasting, bring a large pot of water to boil. Allow the pasta to boil for 7-8 minutes.

Crumble the blue cheese and set to the side. Remove the aubergines, spray with a bit more olive oil, season with pepper and set to the side as well.

Drain the pasta and return to the pot. Add the aubergines, rocket and 3/4 of the blue cheese. Mix together.

Divide into two bowls and top with the remaining blue cheese. Serve immediately.

The colours add a stunning autumn touch to the dish. Serve it on a weeknight or as a first course at a dinner party.