First-Week-of-the-Second-Half-of-Rabbinical-School Pasta

This seems to happen every year. In the Fall, I get grand ambitions of the food blogging that I shall revive, of the recipes that I shall post, of the deliciousness to be documented. And then, inevitably, school and work take over, and the blogging stops almost before it starts. Well, not this year. It is now my second half of rabbinical school. I can do things like chant Torah and talk about modern Jewish history and even maybe tell you what month it is in the Hebrew calendar. I can keep up with this blog, and I shall.

To begin, I'll be sharing a First-Week-of-the-Second-Half-of-Rabbinical-School Pasta.

My lovely roommate works for a synagogue that hosts a CSA pick-up. It's a great idea! As a nice bonus, when there's leftover produce from the boxes, Sara gets to take some of it. Last week she brought home beautiful eggplants and red peppers, and she was nice enough to share them with me.

Eggplant is delicious. Often when I get eggplant, I'll make a Chinese dish called 红烧茄子 (Hong Shao Qiezi), which is just about the most delicious way to eat eggplant ever. But, not knowing that Sara was going to be bringing eggplant home, I'd bought my own a few days earlier and already cooked up a batch, so I was looking for something different.

I experiment in the kitchen. Most cooks do, I guess. For me, it's a creative outlet and something very tactile in a life that's largely not. Much of my day consists of reading and listening and talking. I like reading and listening and talking very much! But I also have to find ways to keep my body engaged. I knit in class. I fidget. I play with my hair (curly hair makes it easy). Often, when I get home after a long day, the possibility of going into the kitchen and playing with my food is about the most enticing thing there is.

So, without further adieu, here's what I came up with. It's vegan unless you add parmesan at the end, and if you sub gluten-free pasta it'd be gluten-free. :)

Ingredients:

• several generous glugs of olive oil
• 1 large globe eggplant, sliced into finger-sized pieces
• 1 small red pepper, diced
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 2-5 cloves of garlic, diced (I love garlic. If you don't, put in less)
• 1 handful of mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. dried basil (if you have fresh, all the better!)
• 1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 lb pasta of choice
• salt and pepper to taste
• (optional) parmesan cheese
• (optional) fake meatballs-- or real ones, if you don't keep kosher/do eat meat

When I set out to make this, I had limited time because I had only about a half hour at home before a dinner-time (but not dinner) meeting. So I  got home from school, chopped my veggies, threw them in a box in the fridge, and drove off to work. 

Once I got back, it was play time. There's an eggplant dish called "pasta alla norma" that's pretty delish. I like to use a light variation on Jamie Oliver's recipe. I started out with this much the same way, cooking the eggplant in batches, but then I got all excited about my other ingredients and went off-book. Approximate procedure is below, but, as always, play!

Procedure:

1. Fry Your Eggplant: heat a large skillet over medium, give it a nice drink of olive oil (probably a couple of tablespoons), and add as much of the eggplant as you can fit in a single layer. (You may need to do two batches.) Stir some, but you want to leave it still long enough for the eggplant to brown. Once the eggplant's beginning to soften and turn golden, add a little salt and the basil and oregano. You may also need to add a little oil if it starts to stick. Keep tossing it around so it all cooks evenly. You can use the back of a spoon or a spatula to smoosh the eggplants and release some of the oil back into the pan. If necessary, remove the first batch and add in the second.
2. Once the eggplant is starting to look mostly done, add it all back in, along with the onion and garlic. You may need to turn the heat down a tad at this point so that the onion doesn't scorch. Let it cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften, then add the pepper and mushrooms. 
   
3. Cook the veggies until the shrooms are shrunken, adding a touch more oil if needed to prevent sticking. Taste the veggies and add salt and pepper to taste. This is also a good time to get the water for your pasta going.
   
4. Add in the can of tomatoes, along with a few tablespoons of water. Stir so that everything is incorporated. If you're using frozen meatballs (or fake meatballs), add them in now so that they can cook. 
5. Turn the heat to low and let the sauce simmer for about 15 minutes. If it gets too thick (and it probably will), stir in some of the cooking water. Taste for spice and adjust as necessary. 
   
6. Once the pasta is done, drain, reserving a little of the cooking water in case the sauce is still too thick. Spoon pasta into bowls, top with sauce and cheese (if desired), and dig in.