One of my favourite easy dinners is this no-frill, rustic Roasted Eggplant & Mushroom Pasta w/ Caramelized Onions. Delicious and made with nourishing pantry ingredients!
I love using eggplant in cooking. It's an incredibly versatile ingredient, super healthy and lends a great texture to recipes. That creamy, meaty texture and earthy flavour of eggplant shine in this pasta dish, accompanied by some other veggie goodness!
In this lip smackin' recipe, roasted eggplants and mushrooms meld beautifully with the fresh tomato sauce, caramelized onions and heaps of garlic giving the sauce a rich, well-rounded taste. This sauce is truly the hero here. I can think of eating it with rice, on top of polenta or just scooping it with a piece of crusty garlicky bread.
I used feta cheese here as that's what I had at home. Goats' cheese, torn up mozzarella or shaved parmesan would be fantastic too. Rigatoni is a good pasta for tomato-based meat or vegetable sauces as it holds the sauce well. Penne would be a good substitute.
This is a simple, unpretentious dish but it sure is a winner. Give it a try, I promise you'll keep coming back for more!
You can find more easy & tasty pasta recipes here.
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Roasted Eggplant & Mushroom Pasta w/ Caramelized Onions
Ingredients
- 300 gms Rigatoni Pasta
- 500 gms Eggplant diced
- 400 gms Mushroons quartered
- 8 cloves Garlic whole
- 2 Onions thinly sliced
- 1 tsp Dried Thyme
- 1 tsp Dried Oregano
- 2 tsp Chilli Flakes
- 4 tbsp Olive Oil
- 400 gms Tomato Sauce I used homemade
- Handful or Basil Leaves
- Feta Cheese for topping
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220C. Toss the diced eggplants, mushrooms and whole garlic cloves with 2 Tbsp of olive oil. Spread them out in a single layer on a baking tray. Roast for about 25-30 minutes or until the vegetables are browned and tender.
- Put a large pot of water on the stove for the pasta. Cover and let it come to a boil. Add 2 tsp of salt and the pasta. Cook till al dente or just done. Drain the pasta, but do save a cup of the pasta water for later use.
- Meanwhile, heat a large pan with the remaining olive oil. Saute onions with the dried oregano, thyme and chilli flakes, till nicely caramelized. This should take about 15 minutes. Add the roasted vegetables, tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Let it simmer for a few minutes. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Combine the drained pasta gently with the sauce. If it seems too thick add some of that pasta water you’d saved.
- Sprinkle some torn basil leaves and feta cheese on top and serve immediately.
Anjali says
It's awesome 🙂
natashaminocha says
Thank you Anjali! :))
Ricky says
Excellent. Instead of a tomato sauce ,I used diced drained tinned tomatoes. A lovely delicious dinner for vegetarian or kosher friends. I used grated parmesan instead of feta as I was out of feta.
Natasha Minocha says
That sounds great, Ricky! So glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for your lovely feedback! 🙂