Sun-dried Tomato and Roasted Garlic Pasta

I don't know what it is about pasta that I love so much. It just feels like the ultimate comfort food. Every Friday night, as a kid, my mom would make pasta in my dad's homemade Italian gravy. Dad's Gravy is a pasta sauce recipe that has been handed down throughout the generations and is probably G-d's gift to mankind. It also takes an entire day to make and more counter space than my tiny kitchen affords me. In all honesty, sometimes I'm just impatient and I want something delicious and quick. Rather than turning to bottled sauce, because I prefer to know the ingredients in my food, I find myself creating quick vegetable mixtures to throw over pasta.

This last mixture was too good not to share. I had purchased already roasted garlic from the store. I combined this with sun-dried tomatoes and used the oil from the tomatoes as my base. I added eggplant, mushrooms and spinach to the mixture. The mushrooms and eggplant added a wonderful meaty texture while the spinach gave it a beautiful pop of color. The savory flavors of this dish were brought together perfectly with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. I served this dish with turkey sausage, but it stands perfectly well on its own. 

Ingredients: 

• 8-10 cloves roasted garlic 
• 8 sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil 
• 1/2 eggplant 
• 5 large button mushrooms 
• 2 cups baby spinach leaves
• 3 TBS oil from sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
• 1 TSP salt 
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 cups cooked pasta of choice 
  • May substitute whole grain, gluten free, spiralized veggie noodles 

Directions: 

1. Prepare the pasta according to package directions. 
2. Remove the skin of the eggplant. Slice into 1/2 inch slices. Sprinkle the slices with salt and set aside for 30 minutes to an hour. The eggplant will begin to form beads of liquid on the surface. This helps rid the eggplant of its bitter aftertaste. Rinse the eggplant under cold water and pat dry. Dice the eggplant into small cubes. 
3. Roughly chop the garlic and sun-dried tomatoes as seen below.
4. Wash and dice the mushrooms.
5. In a medium sized saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, sun-dried tomato and mushrooms. Season with salt and cook until the mushrooms begin to turn a golden brown.
6. Turn off the heat and add the spinach and pasta. Combine until the spinach just begins to wilt. 
7. Add the Parmesan cheese and serve. 

Almost too pretty to eat.... but not really. 

Nutrition Content:

* If using whole grain pasta

Serving Size: ~3/4 Cup

• Calories: 275 cal
• Protein: 9.1 grams
• Fat: 16.5 grams
• Carbs: 27.4 grams
  • Fiber: 5.9 grams