Eggplant Olive Pesto
This recipe was one of my contributions to a vegetarian cookbook a few years ago. It was inspired by a dish I had at a restaurant and then recreated at home from the flavours I remembered. Bragging rights - I think my version is every bit as good as the one I had at the resto – if not better, if I do say so myself! It is a popular recipe in our household and has been shared many times with family and friends! It is another quick-to-make recipe for those busy evenings, healthy, delicious, nutritious and satisfying!
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook time: 25 Minutes Total: 35 Minutes Serves: 4
Ingredients
1 lb Fusilli or Spiral Pasta (or Shells as in the photo) – gluten-free (or conventional pasta)
2 small or 1 large Eggplant
1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
5 cloves Garlic - sliced
½ cup Sun-Dried Tomatoes – I prefer the ones jarred in oil
½ cup pitted black olives – sliced – I used the ones that come sliced in a can
½ cup water
Pepper to taste
How It’s Made
Fill a large pot with water, add 1 teaspoon salt, and bring to a boil.
While the water is heating up to boil, halve the eggplant(s) and with a spoon (I use a melon baller) scrape out the inside flesh of the eggplant(s), seeds and all, to as close to the skin as possible to get all the goodness. Discard the purple skin.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan – large enough to eventually hold the cooked pasta and the eggplant pesto you are about to make.
Add the scooped-out eggplant and sauté for 5 minutes. Add a bit of water (2 Tablespoons) if it starts to stick.
Add the sun-dried tomatoes and the sliced garlic and sauté for about 3 minutes.
Add the olives with the ½ cup water, season with pepper to your taste (there is enough salt in the olives and the sun-dried tomatoes so you don’t need to add any more), give it a good stir and let the mixture simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes. The ingredients will soften and thicken slightly.
After the 20 minutes, use a hand-held immersion blender, or a potato masher works too, mash up the mixture leaving some texture. This will only take a moment – 30 seconds at most. You now have created the pesto.
When the water has come to a boil, add your pasta and cook until it is al dente. Reserve a ½ cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta well – spiral pasta can hold water more than the long type.
Add the well-drained pasta to the eggplant pesto pan and toss to mix the pasta thoroughly with the pesto. If it seems dry, add small amounts of the reserved pasta water and toss the mixture again.
Season with additional pepper to taste and Serve.
Enjoy!
Variations:
After 10 minutes of the mixture simmering, for extra nutrition, add in and stir to incorporate, a large handful of chopped kale to the eggplant mixture allowing it to simmer wilt and become soft.
If you like a lot of ‘sauce’ on your pasta, double the pesto ingredients in this recipe.
The flavour combination in this pasta dish does not need grated parmesan cheese to complete it but if you prefer it that way – bon appetit! For a dairy-free version, sprinkle 1 teaspoon Nutritional Yeast mixed with ¼ cup breadcrumbs over top - I use this brand which is widely available in grocery and health food stores.
This pesto makes a great appetizer as well, served with crackers (these are favourites in our home – available at Costco Canada, some grocery and health food stores) or on lightly toasted baguette slices!
