Are those mushrooms begging you to be used? Did you eat almost all of your cherry tomatoes and don’t know what to do with the rest of them? Is there half an eggplant taking up fridge space? Veggie Pasta is a tasty, quick and easy way to get rid of all of that!
Here I used eggplant, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms because that’s what I had lying around the fridge, but the great thing about this pasta sauce is that you can do it with whatever veggies you need to use-up. Vegetables taste great, and this sauce is the perfect way to enjoy them!
Ingredients (to serve about 2)
– about 150 gr eggplant, chopped
– about 150 gr white mushrooms, chopped
– about 14 cherry tomatoes, chopped
– 3 full tbsps of extra vergin olive oil (or more if needed)
– 1 clove of garlic
– about 180gr bow-ties pasta, or a different shape of short pasta (this sauce won’t go well with long pasta like spaghetti or fettuccine)
– fresh parsley to taste
Steps
1. Prepare the water for the pasta: have a sauce pan with 1.5lt of water on the heat. While you wait for it to boil, proceed with the next steps.
2. You need to trifolare* your veggies: put a large fry-pan on a medium heat and pour in the olive oil, then add the clove of garlic cut in half.
*trifolare= to cook something finely chopped, in olive oil and garlic
3. When the garlic starts to get a light golden colour add the eggplant and a tiny pinch of salt. Cook the eggplant for about five minutes stirring often with a wooden spoon. After five minutes add the mushrooms and the cherry tomatoes. Keep stirring often. If the veggie mix feels dry, add a bit of warm water or vegetable stock if you have it handy. Cook for five more minutes, turn the heat off: your pasta sauce is ready.
4. Is the pasta water boiling? (You want big bubbles) Add a generous pinch of rock salt to it and wait a few seconds for it to dissolve. Now Add the pasta, stir, and check the pasta packet for the cooking time. Set your timer for one minute less (the bow-ties I used have a cooking time of 10 minutes, I set my timer for 9)
5. When it’s time, quickly get the pasta off the heat, drain it and pour it into the pasta sauce. Turn the heat on on low and mix well the pasta with the sauce on the low heat. Keep mixing for two or three minutes, then turn the heat off: your pasta is ready!
Sprinkle fresh parley on top and serve hot: buon appetito!
Tips&Tricks
Some of you might feel tempted to use more garlic or more herbs: don’t. If you do that, you won’t be able to taste the vegetables and you might as well eat garlic by itself. And about using ALL the herbs together: what’s the point? You want to match your flavours, not mix them too much 😉 If you find it a little plain, add a tablespoon of grated Parmigiano on top, although that will kill the freshness added by the parsley.
Match it with
Your choice of light table wine.