Process
Start with the ragu and while it cooks you can prep the other ingredients. Place a large saucepan over medium heat and coat with extra virgin olive oil. Sauté the diced onion, carrot, and celery until softened. Add the ground meat and breakup with a wooden spoon so it starts to cook with the vegetables and breaks down into small pieces. Dissolve the tomato estratto in a small cup with the red wine then add both to the pot. Stir to deglaze the pan and get any browned meat pieces up from sticking at the bottom of the pan. Add the canned pelati and all of the tomato juices. Stir to combine everything and turn heat down to low and cook for at least 45 minutes. Stir occasionally as the ragu thickens and cooks down. Season with a small pinch of sugar and a splash of red wine vinegar if necessary to balance the flavor of the tomatoes if you want. Season the ragu with fine sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper then set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (160 C). Place a pot of water on the stove to boil for the pasta. Heavily salt the water, so it tastes like the sea. While water comes to a boil, make the besciamella sauce in a small saucepan. Melt the butter in the saucepan over low heat then add the flour and stir quickly with a small whisk. When the butter bubbles and absorbs the flour, making a roux, it will look like wet sand and slowly darken to a golden color. Add the milk all at once and quickly whisk to get out any clumps. As the milk heats up, keep stirring until it starts to thicken and slowly bubble. Season the besciamella with a small pinch of nutmeg and fine sea salt to taste and set aside.

Fry the cubes of eggplant in a sauté pan with vegetable oil. Allow them to float around and get a dark golden brown color before pulling out with a slotted spoon to blot on paper towels. After a few batches of eggplant are fried, let them rest to remove extra oil until you are ready to assemble the pasta ‘ncasciata.

Boil the pasta until al dente or even a little bit firmer than al dente. The pasta will cook a bit longer in the oven so you do not want to over cook it. Strain the pasta in a colander. Season the cooked pasta with the ragu sauce and toss with half of the eggplant pieces. Taste the seasoning now to see if you need to add any more salt or pepper. Place the pasta into your oven-safe baking dish then tuck the additional pieces of eggplant, caciocavallo cheese and spoonfuls of besciamella into small pockets between the layers of pasta. Finish the top with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a bit of grated parmigiano cheese. Bake until everything has heated through and the cheese melts. It will take about 15-20 minutes. Serve warm or wait until it cools down so you are able to cut slices from the pan like a lasagna. Enjoy it with a glass of Sicilian red wine like a Frappato or Nero d’Avola.