Pastas!

Today's blog is about two last minute pasta dishes I made the past couple of days.

Sunday a friend and I decided we wanted to cook something different for dinner.  We came across Whole-Wheat Shells with Asparagus, Peas, Feta, and Mint among the Vegetarian Times recipes.  It sounded different, and I already had most of the ingredients, so we gave it a try.  It was a last minute thing so I don't have pictures or anything.  It was a really nice, light, summery dish because of the lemon & mint and since it didn't really have a sauce.  The feta I had in my fridge was flavored with Mediterranean herbs, and I liked the extra flavor it added.

While at the store getting a few ingredients we needed, we, um, definitely did NOT find Keebler sandwich cookies on sale and buy them to dip in Nutella that was also on sale...  :)

While in the cupboard where I was keeping the veggies I bought, we realized that the top of my eggplant was starting to get a little moldy.  Already having Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, pecorino romano, pasta,  tomato sauce and fresh basil, I figured some sort of last minute Eggplant Parmesan would be best for dinner tonight.  I sliced the eggplant, dipped the slices in egg, and coated with a breadcrumb, grated romano & chopped basil mix.  I baked at 375 on the first side for about 12 minutes, and on the other side for about 9.  

One of these didn't make it into the dish, it went straight into my tummy!

 While the second side was cooking I cooked some spaghetti.  I decided to do a baked pasta dish, so I layered the sauce, spaghetti, more sauce, eggplant, a little more sauce, then topped it with some mozzarella I had in my fridge, and the rest of the breadcrumb mix (couldn't let it go to waste!).  I baked all of that at the same temperature for about 20 minutes.  It turned out so yummy I went back for thirds.  I only wish there were more eggplant slices.  While layering it I wished I had some ricotta to layer in, put I really liked it how it was.  It made it another lighter dish.  I think the extra cheese would have made it too heavy.

After all this pasta, I'm trying to find something other than pasta primavera to make with my squash, zucchini, etc.  If you have any suggestions, let me know.  Also, some other dishes I may try making in the future: Vegetables Wellington Redux, a pot pie, this delicious-looking-ness, and ratatouille.  Speaking of which, I guess I could make ratatouille with my veggies.  Maybe that'll be dinner Wednesday!