Sausage and Eggplant Ragù with Blistered Tomatoes and Anchovy
A short ragù that behaves like a long one. The tomatoes blister hard and separately so they bring char as well as sweetness, and the anchovy melts into the fat with deeply cooked tomato paste — two quiet savory moves that add up to an afternoon on the stove.
Ingredients
- sausage, frozenabout 3/4 lb
- eggplant1 medium, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
- cherry tomatoes2 generous cups
- salt-packed anchovies3 fillets, rinsed well and patted dry
- tomato paste1 1/2 tbsp
- garlic4 cloves, sliced
- chicken stock3/4 cup
- olive oil4 tbsp total
- pasta6-8 oz, ridged or twisted
- fetaa good handful, crumbled
- red pepper flakesa pinch, if you want it
- salt and plenty of black pepperto taste
Method
First thing, before anything else: put the sealed bag of sausage in a bowl of cold water, changing the water every 30 minutes, or hold it under a thin stream of cold running water. Figure 30-40 minutes. It does not need to be fully thawed — only soft enough to squeeze from the casings. Do not thaw it on the counter; ground meat sitting at room temperature is the one shortcut here that isn't worth it.
Watch for
The bag gives under a thumb and the meat squeezes rather than snaps.
Put the pasta water on and salt it well. Toss the eggplant cubes with a little salt and leave them while you work — it draws out water so they brown rather than steam.
Watch for
Beads of moisture on the cut faces after 10 minutes.
Get a wide skillet hot over high heat with 1 tbsp oil. Add the cherry tomatoes dry and leave them alone until the skins blacken in spots and split, 3-4 minutes, shaking once. Tip them into a bowl, juices and all.
Watch for
Actual char marks and a few burst skins — blistered, not simmered. If they're only weeping, the pan wasn't hot enough.
Same pan, medium-high, 1 tbsp oil. Break the sausage in and leave it undisturbed until one side is deeply browned, then break it up coarsely. If it's still a little icy at the center, give it an extra minute or two and cook it through before it leaves the pan. Scoop it out, leaving the fat behind.
Watch for
A dark crust, not grey — don't crowd it into a wet mass. No pink left when you break the pieces open.
Add the remaining 2 tbsp oil and the eggplant, patted dry. Cook over medium-high, stirring rarely, until browned in patches and yielding when pressed, 7-9 minutes. Eggplant drinks the oil at first and gives it back later — resist adding more.
Watch for
Golden edges and cubes beginning to slump.
Lower the heat. Push the eggplant aside and add the garlic, anchovies and pepper flakes to the bare fat. Stir until the anchovies dissolve completely, about a minute, then add the tomato paste and cook it until it darkens from red to brick. With no fennel seed in the pan, let the paste go a shade further than feels necessary — that caramelization is now doing the aromatic work on its own.
Watch for
The fillets break apart and vanish; the paste smells sweet and roasted rather than raw and metallic, and leaves a rusty film on the pan.
Return the sausage and the blistered tomatoes with all their juices, add the stock, and simmer briskly 8-10 minutes while the pasta boils. Press a few tomatoes with the back of a spoon, but leave most whole.
Watch for
The liquid turning from watery to glossy and lightly clinging.
Drain the pasta a minute shy of done, reserving a cup of water. Add it to the pan with a splash and toss hard for a minute so the sauce grips.
Watch for
Sauce coating each piece rather than pooling underneath.
Off the heat, taste for salt and grind in more black pepper than usual — the ragù wants a little bite where the fennel would have been. Crumble feta over and serve.
Watch for
The anchovy, paste and feta all bring salt; taste before you add any.