Mommy FTW

I had planned to do a lot more posts about what I’ve been cooking for myself – but honestly, I don’t have a lot of time to cook for myself lately!  But, over 4th of July weekend some friends of mine made this super easy eggplant pasta dish for my husband and myself, and I loved it so much I decided to try and make it – FYI, I don’ even really like eggplant. This recipe is adapted from one on Salon.com – basically the changes I made were to add more of everything. Can you really have too much garlic and herbs? I don’t think so.

1 eggplant cut into ½-inch slices (bigger is OK)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 (or more!) cloves garlic, lightly smashed
2 (or more!) springs thyme and / or oregano, chopped
1 cup liquid — stock? Water? A spash of White Wine? Whatever you’ve got on hand.
2 tablespoons (or more!) dried tomatoes, minced — sundried? Oven-dried? Your call.
6 leaves basil (or more!), cut fine
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 pound long pasta — spaghetti, linguini, whatever floats your boat

Cut the eggplant into slices and salt them.  Put aside for 20 minutes.

Put the olive oil in a pan over low heat.  Put in the garlic and let it hang out in there while the eggplant is sitting with the salt.

Pat the eggplant dry.  Cut it into cubes and put it in the garlic oil mixture.  Sautee over medium heat.  Add the thyme and oregano.  Keep cooking ’till the eggplant turns translucent.  Add the liquid and the tomatoes.  Stir, and cook for as long as you want.

Mushy? Yes. Delicious? YES!

The more you cook it, the more mushy and yummy it gets.  You can’t really over do it – which is why I think this is a perfect recipe for moms.  I actually make the sauce during nap time, then when we go out to the playground in the afternoon I turn off the stove and just let it sit there and hang out.

When you are ready, mash up the eggplant mixture with the back of a spoon or a potato masher.  Add the basil, and salt and pepper to taste.  Toss with pasta and enjoy!  If you want to make it a little more hearty, you can add some shredded chicken.

The finished product. Eat up!

By the way, if you (or your husband) doesn’t really like eggplant, I would still say give this a try.  Neither myself or my hubby are fans, but we love this pasta.  It just tastes like yummyness!  Enjoy!

Posted from New York, New York, United States.

When Cameron was younger he used to go to bed much earlier, which left me with lots of time in the evening to do some work and make a nice dinner before my husband got home from work.  But now adays Cameron is going to bed around 7:30 which doesn’t leave me much time to get anything done in the evenings.  Although I like ordering out, I get pretty sick of the options, and I also miss cooking.  So I’ve been trying to come up with fast and easy dinners – and I thought maybe some of you out there could use a little inspiration!  Below you can see a meal I made with a pre breaded chicken cutlet from Fresh Direct, and a fast pasta sauce that you can make in less time than it takes to boil water and cook pasta.

Yummy and easy!

Fast and Tasty Pasta:

Boil some water for whatever kind of pasta you like.  Be sure to salt the water.

Heat 2-3 Tablespoons of olive oil in a small sauce pan.  Throw in a few red pepper flakes.  Once the oil is hot and rippling, throw in a handful of halved cherry tomatoes.  Sprinkle in a little salt.  FYI, Trader Joe’s has a little package of Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes that I personally like.  Put the lid on the pan, turn the heat to medium-low and forget about it for 5 minutes.  The tomatoes will sweat a little and sort of release their juicyness.

Put your pasta in the water and cook it according to package instructions.  Reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water.

When your pasta is almost done, throw some greens in the tomato sauce.  I use any salad greens I have… Spinach, arugula, whatever.  Put in about as much as you would in a salad.  Trust me, it will wilt down.  Put the lid back on.

Drain your pasta, then dump it in the tomato sauce.  Throw in a handful of crumbled cheese – I used goat cheese (again from Trader Joe’s).  I bet mozzarella or Parmesan would also work nicely, but the goat cheese made it tangy and creamy.  If the sauce seems too stiff then add some of the reserved pasta water.  Salt and pepper to taste.  This is enough for 2 side portions – but none of it is exact.  Play with the recipe to make it how you like it!