Roasted Aubergine, Cherry Tomato and Peppers Pasta

Serves 4

Preparation:

Cooking Time:

This is a Guest Recipe from BBC Good Food, which I have tweaked a bit to make it a little more interesting!

Obviously, you can add more or less vegetables to make this a more substantial meal and we now exclusively eat alternative pasta made from peas, green bananas, spelt, corn, rice etc.  They are more digestible and kinder to your body!

To add a little texture, you can garnish with toasted pine nuts

Ingredients

3 large aubergine, cut into chunks

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 head of garlic, unpeeled

300g pack cherry tomatoes

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons caster sugar

2 red onions, peeled and sliced

4 peppers, red, yellow, orange and green - sliced

1 tablespoon mixed Herbes de Provence

Seasoning

400g Pasta of your choice and cooked according to manufacturers’ instructions

One Pack of Baby Spinach Leaves

To Garnish:  Handful toasted pine nuts

AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO…..

1.    Pre-heat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.
 

2.    Toss the aubergine chunks, together with the red onions and peppers with the oil and garlic into a roasting tin with some seasoning.
 

3.    Roast for twelve minutes, add the tomatoes, herbs, vinegar and sugar, then cook for another five minutes.
 

4.    Meantime, cook the pasta according to manufacturer’s instructions, then drain and keep warm.

5.    Take a roasting pan, pour a generous handful of pine nuts onto it, give it a shake to spread them out and then pop this into the oven for about five minutes.    Do not take your eyes off the nuts, they will start to turn golden brown very quickly, but you must not let them char.

6.    When the vegetables are tender, remove the garlic cloves, snip off their ends and squeeze the roasted garlic on to a board.  Mash with a fork and then stir this garlic paste back into the veg, mixing them into the vegetables..
 

7.   To serve, tip the pack of spinach leaves into a large serving dish. 

8.    Now pour the drained pasta onto the top of the spinach and then tip the vegetables onto the top of the pasta. 

9. Finally, as a garnish, sprinkle a generous handful of pine nuts onto the top of the vegetables.