I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate. --Julia Child
I found myself with an overstuffed refrigerator and decided to use up some of the vegetables that were languishing in the crisper. I was thinking ratatouille, but didn't have any peppers on hand, and wanted something a bit more substantial, so I put a pot of water (w/ a handful of kosher salt in it) on the stove to boil some farfalle pasta and in the meantime, diced some eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, garlic and red onion.
I put the onion and garlic in a skillet with some olive oil and sweated until soft. Then, in went the zucchini and eggplant and a pinch of salt. When they started to soften, I added in half a can of peeled plum tomatoes (no sauce) crushing them with my hands before adding to the pan.
This all simmered for about 10 minutes more, then I tossed in the mushrooms, some ground black pepper and 2 TBS of balsamic vinegar (optional). After five more minutes, I added the cooked pasta to the pan, stirred everything together and threw in about 1/2 cup of diced smoked mozzarella and 1 TBS of fresh parsley. The smoked mozzarella made all the difference. Chris even liked this and he is not a huge fan of eggplant or mushrooms.
This all simmered for about 10 minutes more, then I tossed in the mushrooms, some ground black pepper and 2 TBS of balsamic vinegar (optional). After five more minutes, I added the cooked pasta to the pan, stirred everything together and threw in about 1/2 cup of diced smoked mozzarella and 1 TBS of fresh parsley. The smoked mozzarella made all the difference. Chris even liked this and he is not a huge fan of eggplant or mushrooms.
Terrific!
xoxoxo
