Last week I got and email from a friend who told me about his issue with eating veggies, for some reason he stopped eating them but now he wants to go back to the good old days, he asked me if I could do something with eggplant. Eduardo –that’s his name – literally told me: “I want to know what to do with this vegetable since apparently is the ugly duckling of veggies, it’s always so alone” (LOL! But that’s totally right!). So today I’ll show you my take on “Penne with eggplant - tomato sauce (and some shrimp)”. Hope you like it!
INGREDIENTS (4 servings)
1 medium eggplant.
5 medium tomatoes.
¼ red onions.
3 cloves of garlic.
4 tbs. coconut oil.
8 oz. penne.
A handful of basil.
4 tbs. ricotta cheese (I’m using part milk).
½ tbs. nutmeg powder.
1 tbs. black pepper.
½ tbs. Himalayan salt.
12 pieces of shrimp (optional).
PREPARATION (25 minutes)
Cook the pasta the way you usually cook it. I don’t use any salt or oil; I just season the water with basil, pepper and rosemary. Once the pasta is al-dente, reserve.
Chop the eggplant into ½ inch dices and cook them in a high heated pan with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil, nutmeg, salt and pepper and put the lid on. After 3 minutes add another 2 tbs. of coconut oil, cook for 5 more minutes, reserve the eggplant dices in a separate bowl away from heat.
Chop garlic and onion into small-tiny dices and add them to a medium heated pan with 1 tbs. of coconut oil, after 2 minutes chop the tomatoes and add them to the mix, stir occasionally for 5 minutes, then add the eggplant, put the lid on and let it cook for another 5 minutes. If you want to add protein to this dish, this is the time where you want to add the shrimp, let them cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the pasta to the sauce you just made with a handful of roughly chopped basil. Mix it all together and you’re ready to plate!
To plate, just add one spoon of ricotta cheese on top of each individual serving.
Enjoy!
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