To prepare the dough, whisk the egg into the water, and then gradually stir it through the plain flour, semolina, and salt. Mix it together using your fingers for about 10 minutes, before refrigerating for half an hour. Note that the dough should look and feel a bit like buttered breadcrumbs, but hold together when pinched between your fingers. Add a small amount of water if it’s too dry.

Set your extruder to its top speed, and feed in loosely clumped balls of dough, around the size of walnuts. Avoid overfilling, and note that it may take a few minutes of the dough being kneaded inside the extruder before it begins to come out.

Chop the pasta using an extruder cutter or sharp knife as it reaches desired rigatoni length, around 45-50mm.

Transfer to a baking paper lined oven tray, and refrigerate uncovered for up to a week.

Cut the eggplants in half, drizzle with 20ml of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt, and then roast in a 200 degree Celsius oven for 35 minutes. Allow to cool, and then scoop out the flesh, discarding the skin.

Combine all other meatball ingredients with the eggplant, knead together until all ingredients are smooth and evenly distributed, and then roll into balls.

Add the onion and 6 minced garlic cloves into a large cold pot, with the olive oil. Cook on very low heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring continuously, until the onion is translucent. Add the basil and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Pour in the passata, and then use a good 300-400ml of water to swish out any passata left in the bottle, adding it into the pot. Add the sugar and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Raise the heat to medium, and once bubbling carefully drop in the meatballs. These meatballs are particularly soft, so take care when stirring. For the first 10-15 minutes, we often rotate the pot back and forth a few times instead of stirring.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water for 2-3 minutes until they float and no raw dough is visible when the pasta is cut into. Drain, and stir into the sauce.

To serve traditionally, reserve the meatballs for second course; otherwise, plate it all up together. Cover with a liberal serve of hard cheese (our favourite is pecorino Romano).