A super easy pasta dish to prepare on a busy day, Quick Eggplant and Mushroom Pappardelle from my husband Robert is a crowd-pleaser!
My fabulous, smart, handsome and supportive husband Robert also loves to cook. (Yes, he is pretty perfect!) Robert’s maternal grandparents came from Italy and he grew up enjoying big traditional Italian Sunday dinners at his Uncle Billy’s house. When he’s in the kitchen, Robert channels his Italian roots, crafting great pasta dishes – always without a recipe, and always with amazing results. This Eggplant and Mushroom Pappardelle is one of his more recent creations. A bit sweet, a bit spicy, a bit earthy -it has a mouth-watering combination of flavors!
In typical fashion, one evening Robert opened our refrigerator and pantry and started pulling out ingredients that looked interesting to him: eggplant, green peppers, onion, mushrooms, garlic, buffalo mozzarella cheese – and of course, pasta! After around 10 minutes of chopping, the kitchen quickly began to smell fabulous as Robert started sautéing the ingredients. Then, about 30 minutes later, his scrumptious vegetarian pappardelle was ready to serve! Full of flavor with just the right amount of spice, this dish has become a regular in our home.
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Quick Eggplant and Mushroom Pappardelle
A super easy pasta dish to prepare on a busy day, Quick Eggplant and Mushroom Pappardelle from my husband Robert is a crowd-pleaser! A bit sweet, a bit spicy, a bit earthy – it has a mouth-watering combination of flavors.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: main dish, vegetarian, pasta, quick and easy
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 medium eggplants, cubed
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste
- 1 1/2 medium green (or red) bell peppers, seeded and chopped (optional)
- 3/4 cup chopped onion
- 12 ounces sliced mushrooms (cremini, shiitake or a mix all work)
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- kosher salt, to taste
- fresh ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 pound pappardelle pasta, or other wide noodles
- 12 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, drained (if in water) and coarsely chopped
- shredded or shaved Parmesan cheese, for garnish
- chopped fresh Italian (flat leaf) parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the eggplant and red pepper flakes and cook for 10 minutes.
- Stir in green pepper (if using), onion, garlic and mushrooms and cook vegetables are very soft, around 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- While the vegetables are cooking, cook the pasta per package directions (see my tips on Cooking Perfect Pasta). Drain and set aside.
- Drain any excess oil off the vegetables. Add the mozzarella cheese and gently toss.
- Place pasta in shallow serving dish (or individual bowls), top with eggplant mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and parsley and serve immediately.
Cousin Barbara ( the oldest one left)
Robert you are amazing! I remember uncle Billy cooking up a storm on Sundays! Keep it up cuz! Love ya and miss ya!
MaineMal
This is simple, innovative, and very tasty as a simple weekday meal for non-meat eaters. I made it exactly as offered, with two small exceptions: 1) instead of adding the mushrooms with the veg, I sautéed them over relatively high heat in 1/1 butter and olive oil, then took them off and added salt and parsley; added them closer to the end. Then, as the veg/eggplant mixture cooked, I added 1 t. pomegranate molasses, and 1 T red wine vinegar. As with most pasta recipes, I added 1/2 c. of pasta cooking water to the eggplant mixture when I drained the pasta. Really excellent!
★★★★★
Lee Roper
Your modifications sound delicious – I’ll have to try it this way. Thanks for sharing!
Phil
This was fantastic! I used less cheese, and it was still great. Thanks!
★★★★★
Lee Roper
So glad you enjoyed it!