Lately I've been wanting to cook more foods from places that I have a heritage in. This should be quite simple, considering I'm a mutt of eight different ethnicities, however, I find that I really only want to cook one type of cuisine: Italian. I know exactly why, it reminds me of my mom's cooking and home. My mom's primarily Italian, her mom was full Italian and therefore Italian food is what I grew up eating. No complaints there. Who can resist a good chicken parmigiana or lasagna? And quite honestly, whoever can is a fool.
So last night after a very long day of classes, indoor cycling, work, class, and rock climbing, and before my indoor soccer game, I decided it was definitely a night for pasta. I really wanted to do some sort of baked pasta type thing but I wasn't feeling tomato sauce. It's just not the same when I don't have time to slow cook it and tomatoes aren't in season. So instead I decided to use some left over fava bean pesto I had made for crostini a few days back. And then I said, what the heck? I need some more Mediterranean flava in here and decided to use some eggplant I had bought last week. And I know, eggplant isn't quite in season but give me a break... I really want to make eggplant parmagiana... or grilled eggplant sandwiches. Yum!
So there it went. And I was quite impressed. I only had an hour to do this all before my soccer game which meant I had to be speed racer in my kitchen. The methodology may be a little unorthodox, the ingrediants a little different than what it normally seen in a baked pasta dish but it worked out wonderfully!
So last night after a very long day of classes, indoor cycling, work, class, and rock climbing, and before my indoor soccer game, I decided it was definitely a night for pasta. I really wanted to do some sort of baked pasta type thing but I wasn't feeling tomato sauce. It's just not the same when I don't have time to slow cook it and tomatoes aren't in season. So instead I decided to use some left over fava bean pesto I had made for crostini a few days back. And then I said, what the heck? I need some more Mediterranean flava in here and decided to use some eggplant I had bought last week. And I know, eggplant isn't quite in season but give me a break... I really want to make eggplant parmagiana... or grilled eggplant sandwiches. Yum!
So there it went. And I was quite impressed. I only had an hour to do this all before my soccer game which meant I had to be speed racer in my kitchen. The methodology may be a little unorthodox, the ingrediants a little different than what it normally seen in a baked pasta dish but it worked out wonderfully!
Fava Bean Pesto
1 pound fava beans (you know the drill, shelled, peeled, all that fun stuff!)
1 minced garlic clove
juice from 1 lemon
a sprig of rosemary
1/4 cup olive oil (or less if you want)
and sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
put the fava beans, garlic, lemon juice, and rosemary in a food processor and pulse until it's all coarsely chopped. Add in the olive oil, while still blending, to the desired consistency. Finally add in the salt and pepper.
Baked Penne
2 1/3 cups whole wheat penne
1 large eggplant
a few good handfuls fresh spinach
Turn oven to 400 degrees F. Cook penne on the stove as normally would. While doing this, cut the eggplant into bite size morsels and steam in another pot for about 10 minutes. When pasta is al dente remove from heat and drain. Make sure to reserve a little liquid to mix in with the pesto. Put pasta back in the pot and coat with the pesto. Stir in eggplant and spinach. Move to a 8x8 baking dish in bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven to broil and bake for an additional 5.
(note: I didn't do this, but it adding mozzerella to the top of the pasta before baking may be really tasty!)
1 minced garlic clove
juice from 1 lemon
a sprig of rosemary
1/4 cup olive oil (or less if you want)
and sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
put the fava beans, garlic, lemon juice, and rosemary in a food processor and pulse until it's all coarsely chopped. Add in the olive oil, while still blending, to the desired consistency. Finally add in the salt and pepper.
Baked Penne
2 1/3 cups whole wheat penne
1 large eggplant
a few good handfuls fresh spinach
Turn oven to 400 degrees F. Cook penne on the stove as normally would. While doing this, cut the eggplant into bite size morsels and steam in another pot for about 10 minutes. When pasta is al dente remove from heat and drain. Make sure to reserve a little liquid to mix in with the pesto. Put pasta back in the pot and coat with the pesto. Stir in eggplant and spinach. Move to a 8x8 baking dish in bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven to broil and bake for an additional 5.
(note: I didn't do this, but it adding mozzerella to the top of the pasta before baking may be really tasty!)
-Caroline
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