Eggplant And Pasta Pasticcio

Blanch the tomatoes in pot of boiling water for 1 minute. Peel, seed, and chop them. Toss them with garlic, basil, oregano, chili, salt, pepper and 1/2 cup of the olive oil in a bowl and let marinate 1 hour.

Arrange eggplant slices on a tray, overlapping slightly. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Set aside to purge bitter liquid for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the pasta. Work the flour with eggs and a pinch of salt until firm elastic dough forms; you may need to add a little flour or water. Wrap in plastic and set aside for 30 minutes.

Roll out into thin sheets using a pasta machine, keep covered with a slightly damp towel so they do not dry out. This dish is unusual because it does not call for boiling the pasta before baking it.

Squeeze eggplant slices gently, blot them dry with paper towels, then dredge them in the flour. Shake off excess flour.

Heat all but 1 tablespoon of the remaining oil, in a wide skillet and fry eggplant slices until golden on both sides. Blot dry on paper towels.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly brush an oven-to-table dish with remaining olive oil. Line bottom of dish with a few spoons of the tomato sauce, top with a few sheets of fresh pasta, draping them over the rim of the dish.

Layer fried eggplant slices and mozzarella slices in baking dish. Add a spoonful of the sauce sparingly. Fold overlapping pasta sheets over the top to enclose and bake for 45 minutes.

Serve hot.