Clean Eating's Eggplant & Sausage Pasta - Less Clean for Your Porky Goodness

Big, gloriously coloured eggplant have arrived in our local market. I'm always a bit leery of Italian eggplant (as opposed to the Japanese eggplant I usually buy). Too often, I seem to end up with a vegetable that has a thick, bitter skin. I'm not usually a huge fan.

But, when the vegetable is fresh from the farm, I can't pass up the opportunity to try out a new recipe. I got this one from Clean Eating magazine.

I cannot rave about this dish enough. It has all sorts of delicious balances - sweet (raisins), salty (sausage), savoury (tomatoes and eggplant) and sour (vinegar).

Eggplant and Sausage Pasta

(adapted slightly from Clean Eating Magazine)

Ingredients

1½ tbsp olive oil, divided
1 large eggplant, cut into ½" cubes
freshly ground black pepper
8 oz pasta (I used Kamut & Spelt pasta)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large, fresh sausage (I used a herb and garlic pork sausage), casing removed and meat crumbled
½ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1½ cups chopped tomatoes
¼ cup raisins
1 tbsp capers, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
¼ cup chopped parsley
kosher salt, to taste
½ cup low fat ricotta cheese


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400º. Spread ½ tbsp olive oil on a large baking sheet. Toss eggplant with ½ tbsp olive oil and spread over baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle with pepper. Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes, stirring once or twice, until golden brown and tender. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and cook pasta according to manufacturer's directions. Drain and set aside.

3. Heat remaining ½ tbsp oil in a dutch oven. Sauté onion and sausage until onion is browned and sausage in cooked through. Stir in oregano, red pepper flakes and garlic. Sauté for an additional minute. Add in tomatoes, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer. Stir in eggplant, raisins, capers and simmer until sauce is thickened, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar and 3 tbsp parsley. Add pasta into pot, tossing to coat.

4. Serve with a dollop of ricotta cheese and a sprinkle of parsley.

Vanilla Honey & Yogurt Pound Cake

Is there anything more lovely than strawberries for Canada Day? The two were clearly, clearly meant for each other.

And the fact that they're local strawberries picked up at yesterday's farmer's market? Yes please! Better than this would be strawberries we'd picked ourselves at a local farm, but that's hard to come by in downtown Toronto.

Did you pick strawberries with your family when you were young? I remember it was always a highlight of early summer. We'd be freshly off school and my mum would take my brother and I to the fields. I can remember the intense heat of the sun and the squish of the occasional fallen berry beneath my sandals.

And the taste of a freshly picked strawberry eaten in the field? There is so better tasting strawberry.

I know my brother would agree. When he was little, he'd eat himself practically to sickness on the berries. Let's just say more seemed to make it into his mouth than into his basket.

Strawberry thievery. The most delicious of all illicit fruit theft.

Let's go back to the cake, which I posted a picture of, but haven't talked about at all. Tthis isn't a true pound cake - there's no pound of sugar/flour/butter going on. But, for lack of a better word, to describe it, I'm going to go with pound cake. You bake it in a loaf pan and it looks like a pound cake.

And, I'm just not one of those people who gets wrapped up in semantics.

Anyway, it's got a great crumb and a lovely, subtle vanilla and honey flavour. Perfect for showing off strawberries or whatever toppings you might have on hand.

Vanilla Honey & Yogurt Pound Cake


Ingredients

1½ cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 cup whole milk yogurt
3 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tbsp wildflower honey, divided
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup canola oil (or any other neutral flavoured oil)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Grease a 9"x5" loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together yogurt, eggs, sugar, 3 tbsp honey, vanilla and oil. Once combined, pour into dry ingredients. Stir just until combined. Pour into prepared pan and bake in over for 45-50 minutes, or until a cake tester (I use a chopstick) comes out clean.

4. Drizzle remaining tablespoon of honey on the still warm cake. This will create a totally delicious crust.

Serve with fresh local strawberries!

EDIT: I take it back. Don't serve it with local strawberries. I mean, they're delicious, but even better? Uncanny Preserves's Cherries in Almond Syrup.

Holy sweet Jesus.

It's amazing.

It's a thing of beauty. Look at the way that syrup is soaking the cake. DROOOOOOOOOOOOOL.

No... uhm... I wasn't licking the syrup off my fingers. Nor did I stick them back in the jar.

Pshaw.

How dare you insinuate as much.

Okay. Maybe. Maybe it happened.

Anyway, hop on over to Uncanny and try to get yourself a jar of these bad boys. They're outstanding. PERFECT with the cake.

Farmer's Market Ingredient of the Week: Pattypan Squash

Phil picked up a few of these beauties at our weekly farmer's market, and I knew it was time to crack open a cookbook that I hadn't had the opportunity to cook from in a while.

As you've probably noticed, Nigel Slater is pretty much my go-to guy for simple recipes for seasonal cooking. I got this one from Tender 1, and it served the two of us along with some small sausages and some sautéed heirloom tomatoes for an easy supper.

Is there anything Nigel can't do?


Pattypan Squash with Mint and Lemon

(adapted slightly from Tender 1)


Ingredients

1 lb pattypan squash, sliced into ¼" slices
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large handful whole mint leaves
1 small handful parsley leaves
juice of ½ a lemon
½ tsp kosher salt

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Gently add pattypan slices, and let colour and soften. Once browned, stir in mint, parsley, lemon juice and salt. Raise heat and let bubble for about a minute. Remove from heat, plate and serve.