This recipe will quickly become a favorite of yours thanks to the eggplant, luscious tomatoes, and rigatoni pasta.
| Author | Silvia lemon |
| Preparation Time | 22 minutes |
| Cooking Duration | 08 minutes |
| Total Time | 30 minutes |
| Category | Weight loss salad |
| Calories | 525 |
| Protein | 19g |
| Cuisine | American |
| Diet | Veg |
Ingredients
Veggies
The ideal vegetable for this recipe is an eggplant that is ripe. Without using meat, it provides a fantastic meaty feel.
Tomatoes go amazingly with eggplant’s salty flavor. A cup of cherry tomatoes will provide a beautiful sweetness, especially when they combust in the pan and scream with flavor.
These can be combined with some oil-fried fresh bell peppers (or piquillo peppers) to create a delightful eggplant tomato sauce.
Adding some robust beans to pasta meals is a terrific way to boost the protein content.
Navy beans will contribute to the creation of a nice, satisfying dish that best embodies Italian comfort food.
I chose kale because it’s packed with nutrients to add some greens, but you could also add spinach or cavolo nero for a more traditional Italian flavor.
Pasta
Tubular pasta is an excellent choice to store all that delicious sauce; rigatoni is ideal, but penne pasta would also be a fantastic substitute.
Herbs
The eggplant mixture will definitely taste more flavorful with the addition of herbs, just like any genuine Mediterranean dish.
I’m using the traditional herbs of thyme and rosemary for this simple dish. If you can find them, I’ll recommend using fresh herbs instead than dried ones.
Simply put, they provide you with a richer aroma than your homemade tomato sauce needs.
(Another recipe – Panzanella Weight Loss Salad Recipe)
How to make the best eggplant pasta?
Preparation Time
Slice garlic coarsely, and dice the eggplant. Piquillo or bell peppers should be sliced.
In a big pot of salted water, cook the pasta. Combine and cook pasta until it’s al dente.
Next, remove the cooked pasta while reserving all of the water, do not throw it away, once the pasta is cooked there will be just the right amount of excess liquid for the sauce.
Cooking time
Add the olive oil to a big skillet set to medium heat.
Don’t forget the pasta water and toss everything together until the tomatoes start to burst and the eggplant starts to become somewhat brown.
To loosen any stuck vegetable pieces that are flavorful, scrape the bottom.
Other
Add a few tbsp. of COOLED cornstarch to the pot after dissolving it.
Mix and cook the mixture until it resembles a sauce. If your sauce is already sufficiently thick, you might find that you don’t need it, so skip this step.
Add noodles and shredded kale leaves. Into the vegetables, fold. Cook the pasta for a few minutes longer if necessary to ensure that the sauce adheres to it.
When adding black pepper, taste it first. Moreover, add more salt if necessary. Add basil leaves on top before serving.
Health benefits
- Another superfood in this recipe is kale. It is claimed to help in lowering cholesterol and other health issues because it is full of nutrients.
- Additionally, it is hydrated, which will make you feel full and aid in weight loss.
- And if you ever believed that pasta is off-limits when controlling your calorie intake, you are mistaken.
- In fact, eating a healthy amount of carbohydrates at your main meal will help you feel satiated for longer.
