10-Ingredient Roasted Eggplant Pasta
From: Ian Seddon's Cookbook
🥘 Ingredients
- avocado oil 2 tbsp
- eggplant 1 lb
- Kosher
- Freshly
- small head of garlic 1
- medium-shaped pasta of choice 8 oz
- flat-leaf parsley ½ cup
- fresh thyme leaves 2 tsp
- medium lemon 1 ½ tbsp
- medium zucchini 2
- extra virgin olive oil 3 tbsp
- toasted walnuts ¼ cup
- tahini 2-3 tbsp
Do not use extra virgin olive oil for roasting the eggplant, as the high roasting temperature is well past its smoke point. To toast walnuts, add them to a dry skillet over medium heat and toast, stirring frequently, until fragrant and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Once cooled, roughly chop. The tahini at the end is optional. If you want something a little creamy and indulgent at the end, add it. But if you want to keep this pasta on the lighter side and let the roasted garlic dressing be the star, go ahead and omit. I like keeping some of the skin on the eggplant (in a zebra stripe pattern) because it adds texture to the cooked eggplant (but I wouldn’t leave the skin on the larger globe eggplants, as their skin is often tough). When roasting the whole garlic, if you’re not keen on putting aluminum foil directly on top of the garlic, you can first wrap the garlic in parchment paper (wrap as tightly as you can), and then tightly wrap that in foil. I find this method does require an extra 5 to 10 minutes of roasting than the just-foil method. Storage: For the best leftovers, only make as much gremolata as you need (or store leftover gremolata with a bit of olive oil in the fridge). Store the pasta in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Reheat in a nonstick pan (or in the microwave) until heated through again. Top with gremolata and toasted walnuts if you have any leftover. Nutrition boost: To bulk up this meal with some protein, add in chickpeas or cannellini beans when you add the roasted eggplant.
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1Gather: avocado oil , eggplant , Kosher salt to taste, Freshly cracked black pepper, small head of garlic , medium-shaped pasta of choice , flat-leaf parsley , fresh thyme leaves , medium lemon , medium zucchini , extra virgin olive oil , toasted walnuts , tahini .
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2Preheat the oven to 450°F / 230°C. Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper or drizzle with some avocado oil to prevent the eggplant from sticking.
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3Prep the eggplant. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the eggplant in alternating strips from top to bottom (you can peel them entirely, but I like the zebra look, see Note 4). Slice the eggplant into 1 ½-inch ( timer cm) thick wedges and add to the baking sheet. Drizzle with the 2 tbsp avocado oil, a generous amount of salt, and black pepper to taste. Toss well and arrange the eggplant in a single layer.
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4Prep the garlic. Remove the outer layers of the garlic head and then slice off a thin layer off the top to expose the skin of the cloves. Rub the exposed cloves with a bit of avocado oil. Wrap in aluminum foil to make a packet (see Note 5). Place the packet on the same baking sheet as the eggplant.
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5Roast the eggplant for 25-35 minutes , or until the eggplant is deeply golden brown on the outside yet very soft and tender, tossing halfway through. For skinnier, thin-skinned varieties of eggplant, roast 25 minutes. For larger eggplants (such as Italian eggplant) roast for 25 minutes at 450°F / 230°C, then turn the heat down to 400°F / 205°C and roast for another 10 to 15 minutes. The garlic should also take 25 to 35 minutes to roast (the garlic is done when the cloves are very soft and practically oozing out of their skins).
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6Meanwhile, cook the pasta. Bring a pot of generously salted water to boil and cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente, then drain.
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7Meanwhile, make the gremolata. Finely chop the parsley, then chop the thyme leaves and mix together. Using a microplane, zest the lemon directly on top of the herbs and then sprinkle with some sea salt or kosher salt and toss to combine.
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8Meanwhile, make the zucchini ribbons. Using a Y-shaped vegetable peeler, shave the zucchini lengthwise in a downwards motion to get wide vegetable ribbons. Once you get to the cores, it will be hard to continue shaving. Save the cores for another use, like stir fries or freeze it for smoothies.
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9Make the roasted garlic dressing. When the garlic is done roasting and is cool enough to handle, squeeze the cloves into a small bowl. Mash with a fork, add in the lemon juice, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Whisk together, and then drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil and whisk until emulsified.
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10Assemble the pasta. Add the hot cooked pasta to a serving bowl and add the zucchini ribbons. Sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt and pepper, then dress with the roasted garlic dressing and toss to combine. Add the roasted eggplant, and toss to combine again. Top the eggplant pasta with the gremolata and toasted walnuts. Transfer to serving bowls and top each bowl with a drizzle of tahini, if desired.