Saturday, September 14, 2013
Eggplant Bolognese
So after coming back from NOLA as you all know I was craving some quality kitchen time and also some healthy low fat/low calorie food. And since I was raised on Italian food that is definitely my go to comfort food. Tonight I made Eggplant Bolognese from Cooking Light. It still has some ground beef, however the majority of the sauce is eggplant based, to cut down on the bad stuff. It was good, but not the same as traditional bolognese. It just needed to be a little saucier, have a little more flavor, maybe a little spicy kick and well when I think bolognese I just think really meaty and eggplant just has a different texture. However, if you are looking for a faster, healthier, easier version of bolognese this is definitely the one for you.
I did love the eggplant, paired with the acidity of the tomatoes and the red wine. I also enjoyed that this sauce was served over whole wheat pasta, which has definitely come a long way since my childhood. I have horrible whole wheat pasta memories of a gut bomb like glutinous mass that was passed off as pasta when I was a kid...or maybe my Mom just over cooked the hell out of it. Any which way this pasta and sauce is a nice Fall meal...not Earth shattering, but not get this off my table into the garbage bad either.
Now if you are unfamiliar with bolognese let me tell you a little bit about it. Well to start the sauce originated in....yup you guessed it, Bologna Italy. The first documented recipe for it was from the 19th century. Traditionally, bolognese sauce is a tomato meat based sauce that is slow cooked. It normally consists of vegetables such as onions, celery and carrot and the meat is normally a combination of beef, pork and/or veal. It is often cooked with red wine and a great deal of herbs. It has a reputation for being time consuming as it often simmers on the stove for hours, which gives it a dense and complex flavor.
This recipe takes 30-40 minutes to make and so the layers of flavor just aren't as intense. But it is very easy to make.
So brown the ground beef and onions in olive oil.
Next add 8 cups of chopped eggplant and garlic, yes that is a crap load of eggplant. While I was cutting it, I was like dang this is a lot of eggplant and when I put it in the pan it was nearly over flowing. Thankfully it does cook down, not quite as much as like spinach or bok choy, but it does become soft and meld into the beef/onion mixture nicely.
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| Yes, I know this looks like potatoes but I swear it is eggplant |
Continue to cook and add the tomato paste. Let me just say that buying tomato paste is such a waste. I always buy it for recipes, use 1 Tablespoon and throw the rest of the can away. However, I did do some research just to see if I could skip the whole tomato paste step and it does actually have a purpose. Tomato paste is often used to bind a sauce. It is also used to help add a more intense tomato flavor since it is concentrated and can add some body and salt to the sauce. So I guess I will continue to buy my little can and use my 1 Tablespoon and throw the rest away...hell it is almost a tradition now, right?
The best part is next, adding the wine and continuing to cook. This was great because my BFF and I used a 1/2 cup for the recipe and drank the rest of the bottle. I used the Cupcake wine from my blog last week and put it to good use. Yup, I call that resourceful. And remember you do not want to cook with wine that you would not drink...if it is not good enough to drink alone you do not want it flavoring your food. That is why my sink gets to drink a lot of wine....yes I know some of you would like to be my sink.
Add the tomatoes and continue to cook, finishing the sauce with salt and red wine vinegar.
Serve the sauce over warm whole wheat pasta. Voila!!
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/4 cups chopped onion
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1/2 pound ground sirloin
8 cups chopped eggplant (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine $
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
10 ounce uncooked whole-wheat fettuccine
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 cup small fresh basil leaves
Preparation
1. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and beef; cook 10 minutes or until beef is browned, stirring to crumble beef. Add eggplant, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper; cook 20 minutes or until eggplant is very tender, stirring occasionally. Add tomato paste; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add wine; cook 1 minute, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking up the tomatoes as necessary. Add remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and red wine vinegar.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, adding 1 tablespoon kosher salt to cooking water. Drain. Toss pasta with sauce; sprinkle with basil leaves.
Hope you are all having an incredible weekend. And thank you to my BFF who took the finished product pics of dinner. Cheers my friends!
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