Eggplant Pasta (GF) With Pesto
Yield: 4 people
Ingredients:
3-4 cups of gluten-free quinoa, buckwheat or brown rice pasta
1 medium size eggplant: diced
1/4 cup of diced yellow or white onion
4 fresh garlic cloves: minced
1/2 cup of fresh basil
1/2 cup pine nuts
4 tablespoons of avocado oil
1 tablespoon of grated or minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons of kalamata olives: halved and pitted
chicken broth or veggie stock
black pepper
pink salt
red pepper flakes
2 cups of organic arugula
Directions:
Follow pasta cooking instructions to cook quinoa pasta. Drain and set it aside.
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a pan briefly on low-medium heat. Evenly spread diced eggplant on the pan and cook it for 10-15 minutes until the eggplant pieces are all softened and browned. Add more oil if needed. When ready, transfer eggplant onto a plate.
Make pesto sauce: Place pine nuts, garlic, ginger, 1 tablespoon of oil, basil, salt, black pepper into a blender. Add enough amount of chicken or veggie stock in so that the food can be moved and blended.
Oil the pan and add 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes and diced onion and olives onto the pan to lightly sauté until onion pieces become translucent.
Place cooked pasta and eggplant, pesto sauce onto the pan and gently stir to coat the pasta evenly with the sauce. Add more salt if needed.
Mix in arugula and cook it briefly until leaves soften.
Turn off the stove and transfer the pasta onto the plate. Garnish with whole pine nuts and basil leaves on top of the pasta. Enjoy!