Rigatoni with Eggplant Puree

I wanted to make a pasta dish that departed from your typical pesto, marinara, or bolognese, and Giada de Laurentiis’s healthy eggplant-based sauce sounded interesting!  The original recipe calls for mint, but I thought basil would pair better with a protein. The original recipe also didn’t call for mushrooms, but the mushrooms add a nice earthy compliment to the sauce. Simply omit if mushrooms aren’t your thing!   The sauce is so flexible – I’ve made it with twice the amount of eggplant, raw/roasted/no mushrooms, and I love it every single time.  It also really freezes well, so I usually double the recipe and freeze half for a later date.

I’ve paired this with shrimp, salmon, and chicken, but a mild Italian sausage is my favorite.  The fennel in Italian sausage is a great compliment to the sauce but doesn’t totally overpower the veggie flavor.

Here is the recipe as adapted from Giada’s.  If you want to eat this with meat, simply cook your meat through separately, cut into bite size pieces, and mix it in with the pasta and sauce.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 cups (1 pint) cherry tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more if you like it spicy)
• 1 pound dried rigatoni pasta
• 1 pint mushrooms (white or crimini), cleaned and stems removed
• 1/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 bunch broccolini, cut into 2-3″ pieces
• 1 pound mild Italian sausage (I like chicken sausage)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl combine the eggplant, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, 3 tablespoons olive oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Spread the vegetables out in an even layer on the baking sheet. Roast in the oven until the vegetables are tender and the eggplant is golden, about 35 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cut the chicken sausage into 1/4″ or so discs and cook in a large skillet until browned on both sides.  Place sausage on a plate lined with a paper towel, and drain all but 1 tablespoon pan dripppings (if any). Cook broccolini in pan using sausage drippings until tender but still firm.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water (salty like the ocean!) to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but a bit under done, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta but reserve 2 cups or so of the cooking water.
5. Transfer the roasted vegetables to a food processor or blender. Add the torn basil leaves, mushrooms*, and additional 3 tablespoons olive oil. Blend until almost smooth.
6. Return the pasta to the cooking pot, pour sauce over it and about 1/2 cup of cooking water and cook together over medium-high heat for 1 to 2 minutes, tossing occasionally to coat pasta evenly. Add broccolini and chicken sausage and toss.  Add more pasta cooking water a little at a time if needed to loosen the sauce further.
7. Transfer pasta and sauce to serving bowls; garnish with parm, and serve.

You can easily make this vegan by forgoing the cheese and obviously the meat.

This was earthy and delicious!  I made this the first time a few months ago, while you could still get local eggplant and tomatoes.  I made this again recently, and the produce was from South America.  I didn’t enjoy it as much the second time around, as I think all that distance traveled to get to me made a difference in the taste.  I can’t wait for summer eggplant and tomato season to come around when eggplant and tomatoes are in their peak!!