Tag Archives: pasta

Jan8

Baked eggplant parmesan

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Baking eggplant parmesan is so much easier than frying it. I love that you can bake a whole sheet at once in the oven.

I bought these cute little eggplants at the farmers market, but one big one would be just fine. I always leave the skin on, but you can peel it if the texture bothers you.

Baked Eggplant Parmesan

1 1/2 lbs. eggplant
kosher salt
black pepper
1/2 c. flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. panko crumbs
1/4 c. plus more for sprinkling, finely grated parmesan or parmesan/romano blend
28 oz. can whole tomatoes
1 small onion
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. sugar
8 oz. mozzarella
1 lb. linguine

Make the eggplant:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Slice the eggplant into 1/2-inch slices. Salt with kosher salt, and allow to rest for an hour. Blot the water that has been released from the eggplant, then flip the slices over and salt the other side. After an hour, blot the second side. (You can skip the salting and just slice the eggplant if you’re pressed for time.)
3. Set up a little assembly line, and coat the eggplant slices first in flour, then egg, then a mixture of panko and grated parmesan/romano cheese.
4. Place the eggplant onto a wire rack on a cookie sheet. Spray the coated eggplant lightly with a little bit of olive oil or cooking spray.
5. Bake at for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Make the sauce while the eggplant is baking:
1. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic, onions, and red pepper flakes. Sautee until the onions are translucent, and season with salt and pepper.
2. Add the tomatoes, 2 cups of water, the oregano, and the sugar. Salt to taste.
3. Bring to a gentle simmer, and allow the sauce to simmer for at least 20 minutes. You can add fresh basil or parsley at this point as well.

Assemble the eggplant parmesan:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. I like the eggplant to stay crispy, so I only use a little bit of sauce and then serve it with extra sauce over the pasta. Spread a little bit of sauce in the bottom of a large casserole dish, then lay the pieces of eggplant on top of the sauce, and cover the eggplant with the mozzarella and parmesan.


3. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown.

Serve over pasta with additional sauce.

Jan3

Minestra with turkey meatballs

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I do not usually care for leftovers, but soup is something that I can eat for days (chili too).  So for lunch during the week, I made a big pot of Rachael Ray’s mini meatball minestra.

The only modifications that I made to her recipe were:
* I used bacon instead of pancetta
* Only one head of escarole
* Ground turkey instead of meatloaf mix

I usually add sausage or bacon to soups, so the mini meatballs are a nice change.

Maybe the heads of escarole at my market are larger than average, but one head seemed like plenty.

The turkey meat totally did not want to stay in ball form, but don’t worry.

Before you put them into the soup, drizzle a little bit of olive oil on your hands, then roll the balls between your palms. This will help you to roll the balls more easily.  See?  Mine managed to stay in ball form throughout the cooking process.

Definitely serve them with a squeeze of lemon (or if you love lemon as much as I do, half a lemon’s worth of juice per bowl), and buttered bread. Or go all out and serve with grilled cheese, as Rachael suggests.  It’s not very colorful, but it was delicious!

Dec20

Whole wheat pasta with pesto, shrimp, and peas

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For a quick lunch yesterday, I made pesto out of basil, pecorino romano/parmesan blend cheese, walnuts, and one clove of garlic.  Put it in a food processor and pulse while streaming olive oil into the mixture.

Boil some whole wheat pasta. While the pasta is cooking, brown a few shrimp in a pan. Remove the shrimp once pink, then add some frozen peas to the pan.  When the peas are defrosted, add a bit of butter and a bit of half-and-half to the pan.

Toss the pasta with the shrimp, the cream and peas mixture, and the pesto.  Serve with tons of black pepper and some cheese.

You can make the pesto in advance or use store-bought pesto to make this even quicker to prepare.