Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Summer Veggie Pasta with an Eggplant and Ricotta Sauce

Main Dishes

Summer Veggie Pasta with an Eggplant and Ricotta Sauce

Summer Veggie Pasta with an Eggplant and Ricotta Sauce

Our apartment balcony is filled with foliage. My plant tending days ended after the demise of Petey, a plant my good friend Britt and I attempted to care for in college, so I’m lucky that Apolinaras has a green thumb! He’s already dreaming of the day we have a real yard, but for now is happy tending his mini-vegetable garden. He has six different herbs growing that I frequently use, along with jalapeno and banana peppers and cherry tomatoes. He also planted an avocado pit that has sprouted, so we’ll see how that goes. Anyway, our cherry tomatoes are finally beginning to ripen and we’ve just been popping them straight into our mouths off the tree every day. But this weekend our little plant was particularly bountiful and he managed to harvest a whole handful of cherry tomatoes! When he brought them in on Saturday and proudly announced that we had enough to use in a recipe, I immediately knew I wanted to make a pasta dish packed with summer veggies.

This pasta is mixed with fresh zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and chicken, but my favorite part is the rich and creamy sauce, which I made by blending roasted eggplant, red onion, garlic, herbs, and ricotta together. This is one of those dishes that is even better the next day!

I also wanted to share the other foodie project I worked on this weekend. I went crazy with different icing colors and decorated sugar cookies for a surprise baby shower for my labmate Sima. Big thanks to Michelle and Julie for posting such easy to follow decorating directions! This was my first time working with royal icing and I was pretty proud about how cute the cookies turned out!

Summer Veggie Pasta with an Eggplant and Ricotta Sauce
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 pound whole wheat penne pasta
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 eggplant, cut into small chunks (mine was a little over a pound)
1 red onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
2 zucchinis, cut into small chunks
3 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half

Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain the pasta in a colander, return it to the pot, and keep warm.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet and sauté eggplant for 5 minutes. Add red onion and cook 5 to 7 minutes, or until veggies are soft, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and sauté one additional minute. Place eggplant mixture, ricotta cheese, vinegar, salt, oregano, and basil in a food processor. Pulse until a smooth sauce forms.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in the same skillet over medium heat and sauté zuchinni for 5 minutes or until tender. Remove zucchini and add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet. Add chicken and sauté 5 to 7 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked and no longer pink in the center.

Mix pasta, sauce, chicken, zucchini, and tomatoes until the sauce evenly coats all ingredients. Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition: 449 calories, 11.5g fat, 10.7g fiber, 34.4g protein per serving
Cost: $1.43 per serving

Mushroom Walnut Pesto Pasta

Apolinaras went to Costco while I was on my baking adventure and brought home a fun present - a huge canister of dried gourmet mushrooms! The blend contained a mix of porcini, morels, Brazilian, Ivory portabellas, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms, and I immediately knew...

Caramelized Pineapple Pulled Pork Flatbreads

I hope everyone is enjoying the long holiday weekend! Apolinaras and I are celebrating our seventh wedding anniversary with a mini vacation in Portland, Maine, and the eats have been phenomenal so far. I’ll have a full recap soon! In the meantime, I thought sharing...

Quinoa with Chickpeas, Asparagus, and Lemon Goat Cheese Dressing

I actually jogged outside today with shorts and a tank top on – yay for nicer weather! Spring is almost here and I’m so ready for this season’s fresh produce. I actually couldn’t wait any longer and spontaneously grabbed a huge bunch of asparagus the other weekend. It...

Cheesy Caramelized Onion Tart with a Mashed Potato Crust

When I posted the recipe for my Fiesta Potato Pie a little over a year ago, I got a lot of comments about the fact that I used instant mashed potatoes to make the crust. I know, I know, I don’t normally buy instant mashed potatoes either, but I actually developed...

Spring Goat Cheese Risotto

What’s one to do with leftover goat cheese and asparagus? Why make a goat cheese risotto with spring veggies, of course! Risotto has been a little controversial on Top Chef lately. Apparently, it’s supposed to spread on the plate and be a certain consistency to be...

Chicken Parm Eggplant Stacks

Do you enjoy any odd snack foods? I have a thing for croutons. Not only do I go out of my way to scoop as many as is politely possible onto my salad plate at buffets, I also really like snacking on them on their own – yep, right out of the package and usually when I’m...

Pancetta and Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breasts

We just got back from our annual lab ski trip, where stayed in a huge house up in New Hampshire and hit the slopes and snowshoeing trails at Mount Sunapee. We all had a great time relaxing, hanging out, and enjoying some incredible meals. Everyone signed up to make a...

Fiesta Potato Pie

I think casseroles, like meatloaf, tend to get a bad rap, which is sad because not all casseroles contain “cream of whatever” soup - many are quite delicious! It’s been chilly, rainy, and depressing in Boston lately so I decided to cheer myself up by making a savory...