A couple weeks ago, during our bed, bath, & beyond bedroom upgrade, I found myself in a very long checkout line; one that contained a display of books to rifle through while waiting, and of course, being the impulse shopper that I am, I happened to find one that I couldn't put down. The Frugal Foodie immediately caught my attention in name alone, but as I started to skim the recipes, I got suckered in; cinnamon sweet potato waffles, quinoa risotto with wild mushrooms, fresh bread, all on a budget. I was happy to find that most of the ingredients were items I have already worked with, or kitchen staples, yet the authors, Alanna Kaufman and Alex Small, let you in on their creative secrets to make simple food gourmet. They also have a food blog with some of their recipes called Two Fat Als. My first attempt from the book was making the eggplant pasta alla siciliana and wow, was it delicious! I had never worked with toasted pine nuts before and they are also quite tasty. Definitely try this one out and let me know if you pick up the book. Next up, I plan on making their cinnamon-cranberry-orange oat scones.
Eggplant Pasta alla Siciliana
For 8 servings...(I cut it in half)
2 medium eggplants, peeled and diced
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons oregano
3/4 cup red wine
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
3/4 cup currants or raisins (i used raisins)
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 lb farfalle pasta
salt and pepper to taste
Heat olive oil in a deep skillet or large pot; add eggplant. Let one side of eggplant brown over medium heat 8 minutes, turn to brown other side. Add onion, garlic, salt, and pepper; cook additional 10 minutes. Add oregano and wine; cook 10 minutes. Add canned tomatoes; cook covered 30 minutes. Add currants or raisins and pine nuts. Lower heat; cook 5 more minutes. Cook pasta accordingly to package directions until al dente; drain and place in large bowl. Spoon sauce over pasta and serve.
**Recipe via The Frugal Foodie by Alanna Kaufman and Alex Smalls
yummy!
ReplyDeleteisn't impulse buying great? (don't answer that, that's a rhetorical question. i am an impulse buyer sad to say)
Just Better Together
What a great recipe. It looks absolutely amazing. I am definitely going to have to give it a try.
ReplyDeletexo
that looks absolutely delicious!
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i need a cook boko that will stop me from burning things x
ReplyDeleteThis sounds really good.. I've never had eggplant though. I think I'll try it!
ReplyDeleteIt is super yummy! Thanks for the comments.
ReplyDeleteKirsty - the book tells you how long to cook each thing by minutes, so as long as you have a timer, you should be safe from burning!
lindsey - eggplant is super yummy and great to try at first in a pasta sauce because it's a really mild flavor. :)
Awesome buy! That recipe looks good...I'll have to keep this in mind for when we have eggplants coming out of our ears this summer. We grow them. We like to think of ourselves as farmers...even though at most we are gardening hobbyists.
ReplyDeleteI'm not usually a fan of eggplant but this looks really tasty :)
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