Mediterranean Pasta with Creamy Eggplant Sauce

Don’t you love it when you make something really, really delicious, and then you repurpose the leftovers into something even more delicious?!  I didn’t think it was possible to make this baba ghanoush any more delicious, but that was before I stirred it into my pasta.  It started last week when I found myself digging through my pantries and fridge trying to figure out what to have for dinner.  As is often the case, I had lots of odds and ends, but not much in the way of a complete meal.  Courtney has night classes two days a week, so I had just me to feed and didn’t feel like doing anything too complex.  Suddenly I remembered the baba ghanoush I’d frozen a few weeks before and though ‘Aha!  Why don’t I use pasta sauce!”  And then I devoured it.  And then I made it again.  And then I wished I had more baba ghanoush.

Pureed eggplant gives the pasta dish a certain creaminess without actually using cream. The smokiness really comes through and pairs extremely well with Mediterranean ingredients.  You could also throw in roasted red peppers, cherry tomatoes or pin nuts.  And of course if you don’t have leftover baba ghanoush on hand, you can always use the store bought variety!

Mediterranean Pasta with Creamy Eggplant Sauce

A Messy Kitchen Original

Ingredients:

• 4 oz angel hair pasta
• 1/2 cup baba ghanoush
• 1 cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 10 sliced kalamata olives
• 2 oz crumbled feta
• 2 cups cooked broccoli florets
• 1/4 parmesan

How-To:  Cook pasta according to package; drain.  Mix in baba ghanous, chickpeas, olives, broccoli and half of the parmesan; stir well.  At this point you may want to microwave for a minute if your ingredients are cold.  Finish by sprinkling with crumbled feta and remaining parmesan.  Enjoy!

Serves 2

Johanna