“I seem to be making a lot of vegetarian dishes lately. It’s forced me to come up with new recipes to make things interesting. One of my favourite ingredients is eggplant. It’s also the only thing I haven’t been able to kill in my garden and have had a plentiful supply for months. You can use it in eggplant parmigiana, baba ganoush and vegetarian lasagne but I also love roasting it and stirring it through a pesto pasta. Having just bought a Thermomix (Instructions included) I decided to make an easy tomato sauce then stir the roast eggplant and a few other ingredients through. It was an instant favourite at our house and will satisfy those pesky vegetarians when they drop over. Enjoy!”
(Photo by Gary Donald Corbett)
Ingredients
- 700g eggplant
- Olive oil
- Flaked sea salt
- 1 large red onion
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 400g tinned tomatoes
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp white sugar
- 60g grated parmesan cheese
- 60g sour cream
- 40g roasted pine nuts
- 60g sundries tomatoes
- 1/2 cup basil leaves
- Shaved parmesan
- Cup the eggplant into 1.5cm cubes and place on a baking tray covered with baking paper. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with flaked sea salt. Bake in a 180 degree C oven for 30 minutes or until slightly browned. Flipping the eggplant once during this time helps get an even colour.
- Add the spaghetti to a medium saucepan of salted boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain when cooked.
- Cut the sundries tomatoes into strips and roughly shred the basil leaves. Put aside with the roasted pine nuts and shaved parmesan.
- Finely chop the onion and garlic and fry in a medium saucepan with a small amount of olive oil until translucent.
- Add the tomatoes, Dijon mustard and sugar to the onions and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- While the sauce is still hot add the parmesan cheese, then using a stab blender, blend the mixture until you get a smooth sauce. Just before serving add the sour cream and stir through the sauce.
- Drain the pasta and in a large bowl stir through the sauce, roasted eggplant, sundries tomato strips and half the basil leaves.
- Once served into pasta bowls sprinkle on the pine nuts, remaining basil and shaved parmesan.
Thermomix method
- Cup the eggplant into 1.5cm cubes and place on a baking tray covered with baking paper. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with flaked sea salt. Bake in a 180 degree C oven for 30 minutes or until slightly browned. Flipping the eggplant once during this time helps get an even colour.
- Add the spaghetti to a medium saucepan of salted boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain when cooked.
- Cut the sundries tomatoes into strips and roughly shred the basil leaves. Put aside with the roasted pine nuts and shaved parmesan.
- Add onion and garlic to Thermomix bowl and process on speed 4/3 seconds
- Wipe down the bowl with a spatula then add 2 tbsp olive oil and cook for 6 minutes/100 degrees/speed 0.5
- Add tinned tomatoes, Dijon mustard and sugar and cook for 6 minutes/100 degrees/speed 0.5
- Add parmesan cheese and sour cream then blend 20 seconds/ speed 7
- Drain the pasta and in a large bowl stir through the sauce, roasted eggplant, sundries tomato strips and half the basil leaves.
- Once served into pasta bowls sprinkle on the pine nuts, remaining basil and shaved parmesan.